A Special Bond
by Fragments of Imagination
Summary: Hiccup was a strange Viking to his tribe, refusing to be a dragon slayer even though he was the most skilled fighter around his age, albeit a bit clumsy. When asked, the answer would always be 'It's not me'. What's his reason actually? One thing was for certain, Stoick was disappointed toward his son for that. (Warning : Character might be OOC. Don't like don't read)
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

Chapter 1

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

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_**Prologue**_

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Who knows that a feeling of admiration could grow simply by watching something? To admire someone you've only ever seen from a far, to feel affection to someone you've never talked to, to love a person without even meeting that someone face to face? If there's someone who would know about it, that someone certainly wasn't the Night Fury, for he only know that such things could happen after he experienced it.

The first time he saw the boy was a few years back, nearly a decade now, during one of the raids. He was destroying one of the things the Vikings used to attack his kind when he his eyes wandering to the ground below, to a certain boy with reddish brown hair and a pair of eyes that were as green as his own eyes. His first thought was 'What is such a small boy doing in the middle of a battle?', just before the boy looking up in his direction.

The boy was only a hatchling in his eyes.

From that day, he watched over the boy out of curiosity. As he watched the boy, admiration began to grow within him, for the boy had many talents in him, talents that his people didn't appreciate. Affection, love, and protectiveness grew later on, without him knowing about it, he already thought of the boy as his own hatchling, his own brother.

He was proud when he witness his hatchling denied his own Sire, firmly stating that he would never slay a dragon unless it's the only thing he could do to survive.

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Have you ever felt as if you don't belong among your own people? Have you ever felt lonely even though you are in a crowd? Have you ever felt suffocated, drowned, when you are living and breathing?

He had, and still is.

He was always different from his people, his tribe, and his own family. Not because his small figure, he had seen many other children who had his figure. Not because he didn't have muscle with him, he did, only people couldn't see it unless he was shirtless. No, it's because he was smart, he was more brain than brawn, as opposed to his tribe where they were more brawn than brain. It's because his way of thought that was different from them, so he could see beyond what they could ever see, he would think beyond what they ever would .

It's because he was different that he refused to take a part in slaying dragons. An activity that they saw as something honorable to do, something heroic, while all they did was killing another living being that was as intelligent as them, a being that has feelings just like them. He refused to be one of them, to be a heartless Dragon Slayer, a brainless Viking. No matter what they said about him, what they did to him, he couldn't care less, because he could see what they couldn't see.

He was proud of himself for that, he refused to be something that he was not, and for that he always felt that he didn't belong there. Always felt lonely while in a crowd. Always felt suffocated and drowned even though he was alive and breathing.

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : New story from me, I hope you like it. Review Please ^ ^


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

_**Narration (This chapter only)**_

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**_This, is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on Meridian of Misery._**

**_My village is, in a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and the charming view of the sunsets. The only problem are the pests. If other places have mice or mosquitoes, we have . . ._**

"Dragons . . ." A boy said with a yawn as he closed the front door of his house, just in time to avoid being burnt to crisp by a burst of flame being shot at him.

**_Most people would leave, but not us. We are Vikings, we . . . have stubbornness issues._**

He smacked both of his cheeks to free himself from drowsiness and opened the door once again, he looked around to see if there's any dragon nearby before running as fast as he could to the forge. He didn't want to join in the battle, but he couldn't stay in his house anyway, not with the front of his house was on fire, the only thing he could do was to help out in the forge to avoid having to get in the way of the battle.

**_My name is Hiccup. Great name, I know, but it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name would frighten off gnomes and trolls, like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that._**

Hiccup gave an 'Oof' when a blast from behind him knocked him off of his feet to the ground, he opened his eyes only to see a Viking heading towards him with his axe raised and yelling a battle cry, only to grin a second later, "Morning!" He greeted before running off to another direction, Hiccup immediately jumped back to his feet and began running to the forge again.

The way to the forge was the opposite from where the other people was running to, so he couldn't help but have to running zigzagged to avoid crashing into the other Vikings.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Get inside!"

"What are you doing out?!"

"Get back inside!"

. . . were what the other Vikings yelled at him as he ran passed them.

It's not like he couldn't defend himself, he could. He was known as the most skilled fighter among the children his age, it's a well known fact in his village, so the people know not to worry that he couldn't defend himself. They weren't worried for his safety, no, what they were worrying about was the destruction that he would cause to the village unintentionally. He was a skilled fighter, and yet he was so accident prone at times. The people was worried if he was out of his house during a raid, he could set many houses ablaze without even knowing.

As he was running, Hiccup caught a sight of a Viking calmly picking on his ear while looking at the all out battle ahead of him, he was too caught up with the sight that he didn't see that his path was on fire, courtesy of the dragon that was flying above it.

"Hiccup!" He yelped when he was suddenly yanked by the neck of his vest, "What is he doing out aga- what are you doing out?! Get back inside!" A big Viking with red hair and beard first asked to the people nearby, but then thought the people wouldn't know the answer, so he asked Hiccup instead.

Hiccup didn't even get the chance to answer before he was shoved forward, he sighed and glanced at the man once again before continuing his run to the forge.

**_That's Stoick the Vast, Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head off it's shoulder, do I believe it?_**

Stoick grabbed a wooden cart and throw it to a dragon flying nearby as if it was nothing, causing the dragon to cry out in pain before flying away in a daze. Hiccup winced as he saw that, _Poor dragon_, he thought in sympathy.

**_Yes, I do. _**

**_Before I forget, he is my Dad, so of course I believe in his strength._**

"What have we got?" Stoick asked a Viking.

"Gronckles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare." The Viking answered before he ducked under his shield when a dragon shot a fire ball nearby.

"Any Night Fury?" Stoick asked as a spark of flame landed on his shoulder.

"None so far." The Viking answered as he stood straight again.

"Good." Stoick said in relief as he simply brushed the spark like brushing a mere dust.

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"Oh!" Hiccup finally arrived at the forge and was greeted with a grin by the blacksmith in there, "Nice of you to join the party, I thought you've been carried off!" He said teasingly.

"Who, me?" Hiccup asked in answer as he wore his apron, "Nah, come on, I'm waaaay too muscular for their taste." He said as he picked up one of the big hammer and put it on the wall.

"Right." The man agreed, only he knows that Hiccup's lean form was not because he was weak bodied, but because the boy's body was solid muscle. The people didn't know about it however, since Hiccup hid them from view to avoid getting more pressured to be a dragon slayer, they would only know about that fact if Hiccup was shirtless.

"Yeah." Hiccup said back as he absently brushed his apron, "They wouldn't know what to do with all . . . this." He said as he jokingly do a body builder pose.

Gobber chuckled, "Well, they need toothpick, don't they?" He asked back in a joke, earning a chuckle from Hiccup as well.

Hiccup focused back to the job and opened the counter window, instantly receiving many dull weapons that needed to be reshaped and sharpened, he carried them to the place where he could reheat them.

**_The meathead with an attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice since I was little, well, littler._**

Outside, Stoick was seen giving orders to the other Vikings before a house was set ablaze by a dragon.

**_See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses._**

"FIRE!" One of the Viking yelled loudly, catching Hiccup attention, he looked out in time to see a group of teenagers running to throw water at the burning house.

**_That's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins - Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and . . ._**

A fire ball landed behind a girl with blonde hair, the background making her looked like a Valkyrie.

**_. . . Astrid._**

Hiccup smiled at the sight of Astrid, he has had a crush with the girl ever since he was 5 years old, but he never hope for her to look at him, and he was satisfied with watching the girl from a far. Astrid might tolerate all the destruction he caused unintentionally, just like Fishlegs, because she knows that he could become a great dragon slayer if he want, but the fact that he refused to be a dragon slayer still remained. Astrid would never date him for his firm refusal to fight dragons, she wanted to be a shield maiden and kill dragons, and it wouldn't do to have a boyfriend who refused to kill dragons.

**_Their job might be cooler, but I never envy them. I like to be a blacksmith more, I can create many things and my job is more important than them anyway._**

"Woah!" Hiccup gasped when his feet leave the ground for the third time that night, "Gobber! What are you doing?" He asked his mentor.

"You not planning to join them, are you?" Gobber asked him as he lowered Hiccup in front of him.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "Where did you get that stupid idea?" He asked casually, "You know I love my job as a blacksmith, Gobber".

Gobber grinned, "Good, because I want you to explain to me about something." He pointed to Hiccup's latest invention, "What is that thing?".

Hiccup looked at the item, "Oh, it's Mangler." He answered as he sharpened a sword, "It's a bola launcher. I'm planning to use it to hunt some deer or boar tomorrow".

"Hm, something crazy again, I see." Gobber said in interest. Most of Hiccup's inventions often ended up in disaster, but a few that didn't were always be something great. He had a feeling that this 'Mangler' was one of the few that would be a great invention, that's why he was interested and reached out to examine it.

"Gobber, don't-" Hiccup's warning died when the Mangler sprung up as soon as Gobber touch it and the bola inside shot out before hitting an unfortunate Viking at the head, the poor Viking get knocked out like a light.

"Oops." Gobber said in surprise, he himself only managed to barely avoiding the bola, "What's happened to cause it?" He asked Hiccup.

"I wanted to warn you that I forgot to lock it." Hiccup said with a sigh, "Clumsy me, I should lock it after I finished trying it earlier, now Dad would angry at me for creating it".

"Oh well." Gobber shrugged, "I think this launcher would be a great item." He said to lighten the mood, "Why don't you show this to Stoick and show him how great this creation would be?".

"Yeah, he would be glad that I burned down another house with my invention." Hiccup answered sarcastically, "All he wants is me going out there and killing dragons, not use any of my inventions, let alone creating them".

"Well, if you want to go out there . . ." Gobber started, "You need to stop all . . . this." He gestured to Hiccup's general direction.

"You just pointed to all of me." Hiccup said with a frown.

"Yes!" Gobber said excitedly, "That's it! Stop being all of you!".

Hiccup looked at Gobber as if he had grown another head. The blacksmith might be good man and had more brain than any other Vikings in the village, except for Hiccup, but Hiccup couldn't help but wondered if his brain was not enough to know that it the sole reason why Hiccup wouldn't want to kill dragons was because it's not . . . well, Hiccup. If he forced himself to kill dragons, that wouldn't be himself, but just a fake, a puppet. He would rather face his Dad's disappointment than throwing away his true self, living a live that wasn't worth living.

"Oooh, yeah." Hiccup said sarcastically instead and began working on the sword again.

"Hiccup." Gobber called for him again, "You, boy, are playing a dangerous game." He said seriously, "If you keep that much raw Vikingness contained, there would be consequences!" He raised both his fake and real hands for dramatic effect.

Hiccup looked at him boringly, "I will take my chance." He answered simply as he took another sword to be sharpened, causing Gobber to sigh in disappointment.

"Why wouldn't you want to fight dragons?" Gobber asked in defeat.

"It's not me, Gobber." Hiccup answered softly, his eyes clouded over, "It's not me".

**_Gobber's reason to want me to kill dragons is understandable, because killing dragons is everything around here, it's the only way for me to be accepted by the rest of my tribe._**

**_A Nadder's head would surely get me at least noticed. Gronckles are tough, taking down one of them would surely get me a girlfriend. The Zippleback, exotic; two heads, twice the status. And then, there's a Monstrous Nightmare, only the best Vikings goes after those, they have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._**

**_But the ultimate prize is something no one ever seen, we call it the . . ._**

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

Hiccup's head snapped up and he looked out of the window as he heard a high pitched screech, "Night Fury . . ." He said in awe as he watched a blue flame shot at the watch tower.

**_This one never steals food, never shows themselves, and . . ._**

Hiccup leaned out of the window as he heard another screech, he watched in fascination as a blue fire ball being shot at the tower again and destroyed it, in high speed too.

**_ . . . never misses._**

Fire was usually red, but the Night Fury's fire was blue in color. That's why he was fascinated by the Night Fury, because the dragon was like Hiccup himself, different from others. That, and . . . he pulled his necklace from under his shirt, the pendant was not a gem stone or jewel, but 5 big pure black scales . . . the scales of the Night Fury itself.

**_No one has ever killed a Night Fury, and I definitely don't want to be the first._**

A memory was brought to the surface every time he saw the scales, the incident that had changed his opinion about dragons forever. The day when he nearly died and was saved by the most feared dragon in the whole archipelago.

_8 years ago . . ._

_A 6 years old Hiccup was running as fast as he could away from the wolves that were running after him. He was exploring the forest that day, but then he got lost and stumbled into an area where wolves were hunting, so he didn't have a choice but to run away._

_He ran and ran until he arrived at the cliff and couldn't run anymore, he turned around and whimpered in fear when he saw that the wolves were closing in. "No . . . please . . ." He begged even though he knew that the wolves wouldn't understand him._

_The wolves growled while walking over to him slowly but surely, Hiccup whimpered again and took a step back unconsciously. He gasped when he slipped before screaming in fear as he fell off the cliff, into the unforgiving sea below._

_"Noooo-!" His scream died when he suddenly caught by something, he opened his eyes and saw how dangerously close he was to the sea before the sea soon became so far from him. Before his mind could register what had just happened, he was back at the cliff and facing the wolves._

_Hiccup was confused when he saw the wolves looked scared at him, but he soon found that it wasn't him that the wolves was scared at, it was something behind him. An angry roar sounded from behind him and the wolves scattered with their tails in between their legs, he gulped and looked behind him to see a dragon that wasn't like anything he had ever seen before._

_The dragon was big, but smaller than a Nadder, and was black in color, the shape of the dragon was more like a bat than a bird. It wasn't a Deadly Nadder, or a Gronckle, or a Monstrous Nightmare, or a Hideous Zippleback, and certainly not a Terrible Terror. The only one left was . . ._

_"Night Fury?" Hiccup asked in awe mixed with fear._

_The dragon, who was still looking at the direction of the retreating wolves until he spoke, was now looking down at him with a pair of forest green eyes that was in the same shade as his own eyes, a pair of beautiful eyes that were intelligent and definitely weren't mindless like what people said about dragons._

_The Night Fury cooed softly at him before picking him up once again and flew over the forest, Hiccup was strangely not afraid during the flight, and in no time at all he arrived back at the edge of the forest. After Hiccup was placed back on the ground, he turned around in time to see the dragon fly away from him._

_"Thank you . . ." He whispered softly even though the dragon wouldn't hear him, he sighed softly before walking slowly to his village._

_That day, he found out that dragons weren't mindless creatures, they were intelligent being just like humans. He promised himself right then and there that he would never kill a dragon, unless it's the only thing he could do to survive._

Hiccup came out of his thought and pulled in his necklace back into under his shirt and jumped out of the window, just in time to hear Gobber said, "Man the fort, Hiccup!" He immediately ran into the forest and up a hill, the best place to look up at the stars . . . and the Night Fury in action.

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"Man the fort, Hiccup!" Gobber ordered as he change his hammer to his axe, "They need me out there." He turned to look at his apprentice to see that the boy wasn't even in the forge at all. How the boy could leave without being seen was a mystery to him, no one in the whole village knows how the boy could do it.

"Where is he?" Gobber asked in confusion before Hiccup's Mangler caught his attention, and he suddenly got mischievous, "Let's see if this thing could be used against dragons." He said to himself as he pushed the bola launcher out of the forge.

He got a bit distance from the forge and opened the Mangler, "Now, how to fire this thing?" He asked himself and he tried to operate it, he found something that looked like a trigger and pulled it, he was surprised when a bola shot in a really fast speed into the air. "Wow! I get it!" He cheered, "Now, it's time to try it for real".

Gobber aimed at the farthest dragon he could see, which happened to be a Nadder, to check the power of the Mangler, and then shot. He was pushed backwards as soon as he pulled the trigger, but he righted himself and looked up at the direction he shot the bola. He watched in awe as the bola tied around the Nadder and the dragon fell from the sky. "Great Odin." He said in awe, "Hiccup is a genius, not even I could throw a bola as far, as strong, and as fast as that".

As soon as he said those words, a bola tied Gronckle fell right into the Mangler and destroyed it. Gobber's awe expression turned into a sour grimace, "Now I need to explain to Hiccup why his launcher destroyed." He said with a sigh before looking around to spot another dragon, he saw one and immediately charge with a battle cry.

Unknown to him, when he shot the Mangler the first time to figure out the way it work, a certain dragon had got caught in the bola and fell down deep into the woods.

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

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Hiccup panted softly as he arrived at his favorite hill to watch the Night Fury, he was running to the hill non-stop so he was a bit out of breath. He broke into a grin as soon as he heard the whooshing and screech the Night Fury made as it flew above him then towards another catapult tower, he felt a bit guilty that he was excited when the mysterious dragon was about to shoot one of their most reliable weapons against dragons, but that moment was the only time he could catch a glimpse of the Night Fury the clearest.

A blue light tore through the sky and hit the tower the nearest to him, creating an explosion of blue fire before the color turned to red, and in that second he saw a black figure flying in high speed away from the blazing tower. Hiccup was grinning the whole time, but then his grin dropped and his eyes widened as he heard the Night Fury roared in rage and saw the mighty beast fell from the sky. "Someone shot a Night Fury?!" He gasped in horror and shock, "Wha- bu- but how come?!".

No one could ever manage such a feat, it's practically impossible to attack something that couldn't be seen, just like a Night Fury in the cover of the night sky. If anyone could do something like that, the only person that could do it in Hiccup's mind was he himself, with the help of his knowledge in the Night Fury's attacking pattern and his Mangler-

Hiccup gasped in shock, "Mangler . . ." He whispered to himself in realization. The only one who knows about Mangler aside from him was Gobber, and even though Hiccup hadn't explained how to work the launcher to the man, Gobber was still his mentor, he could figure it out on his own. "Oh man, of course Gobber would try to shot a dragon with my Mangler, and he just had to try it on my Night Fury!" He groaned as he ran his hand through his hair.

He was well aware that he grew possessive over the Night Fury as the years passed by, years of watching could get you grow fond of something quite easily. Not to mention only he who had met with a Night Fury and live to tell the tale, even though he never told anyone his tale with the Night Fury. One thing still remains, he shouldn't have told Gobber about his latest invention. "Oh Odin, it's my fault." He groaned again sadly, "I would never forgive myself if my Night Fury died because of my invention." He dragged his hand downed his face before turning to go back to the village, he had to return to the forge or his Dad would angry at him again.

A loud growl halted his step, he looked behind him to see a Monstrous Nightmare had just climbed from the cliff and was now glaring at him. "Oh, come on." He said in dry humor, trust his luck to get him face to face with a Nightmare of all dragons. The Nightmare bared it's teeth at him and he did the only thing he could do at the moment, he screamed and run back towards the village.

He was a skilled fighter alright, but he couldn't fight a dragon weaponless, and the only weapon he had with him right now was a dagger that he made himself. Gods know that a dagger couldn't be used against a dragon as big as the Nightmare.

He managed to stay ahead of the dragon while avoiding it's fire and jaws, and just then his luck decided to leave him as his tripped on his own feet. _I'm dead_, he thought sourly as he slowly turned around to look at the dragon, it's opening it's jaws to rip his head off, _Strange that the day I die is the day the Night Fury got shot from the sky_.

Much to his surprise though, Stoick knocked the dragon away from him and engaged in battle. The Nightmare tried to shoot it's fire at the Viking, but the dragon had reach it's shot limit. "You're all out." Stoick said before using it as his advantage and hit the dragon until it flew away.

Hiccup sighed in relief when he saw the fight ended, the dragon didn't get killed and his Dad was still alive, so the outcome was as best as he could hope for. His relief dimmed when one of the 'giant torch' that caught fire during his escape from the nightmare fell, he winced when he heard the tell tale chaos that he accidently caused, which freeing a group of Nadders carrying some of their sheep in the process. "Sorry, Dad." He said sheepishly.

Stoick sighed tiredly, "Hiccup." He called as he looked at his Son, "Why are you out here? And without your weapons too".

"I forgot my swords, they are still in the house." Hiccup explained quickly, because his Dad had a tendency to ignore him, "And I'm out of the house only because it caught on fire earlier".

"You shouldn't engage a battle with a dragon without a weapon, Son." Stoick scolded the boy, completely ignoring the fact that Hiccup had just said that he was only out of the house because it caught on fire, "You need your weapon if you want to kill a dragon".

"Dad." Hiccup sighed as he dragged his palm downed his face, "I didn't engage in a battle with that dragon, okay? I just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all".

Stoick scowled in disappointment, "I see, so you still refuse to fight dragons." He said in annoyance, he shook his head and turned to Gobber, "Get him back to the house, I have his mess to clean up".

Gobber put a hand on his shoulder and began to lead Hiccup back to his house, passing over the snickering teens as they walked.

"Quite the performance." Tuffnut said to him in amusement, Ruffnut grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for the compliment." Hiccup said sarcastically. If it's the twins who said it, then it really was a compliment since they like to cause destruction, "It's not like I want to destroy the village".

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly." Snotlout sneered at him, "That helped!".

Hiccup simply shot him a glare and began walking again, briefly glancing at Astrid who was looking at him in pity for his misfortune. He heard Snotlout yelping in pain and guessed that Gobber had pushed him down by his helmet, causing Hiccup to smile a bit in appreciation at his mentor for standing up for him.

"I really don't want to fight dragons." Hiccup said as they walked to his house, "I love to be a blacksmith".

"I know, Hiccup." Gobber answered with a nod, he had seen how happy Hiccup was when he made something.

"My Dad never listen to me." Hiccup complained when they arrived in front of his house.

"It runs in the family." Gobber commented.

"And when he does, it's always with this... disappointed scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich." Hiccup continued, ignoring Gobber's comment about how it runs in the family to never listen to anyone, and his action had just proved it. "Just like . . . 'Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. This here. This is a talking fish bone!' " He finished as he mimicked his Dad.

"It's not that." Gobber argued, "It's not your appearance that he can't stand, it's the inside, Hiccup".

Hiccup looked at Gobber blankly, "Thank you for summing that up." He said sarcastically before shaking his head, "That's aside, what did you do with my Mangler, Gobber?" He asked to change the subject.

Gobber chuckled nervously, "Uh, catching a Nadder with it?" He offered.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, he thought that Gobber would say he hit a Night Fury, he didn't expect the man to say he only hit a Nadder. "What are you nervous about?" He asked instead.

Gobber grinned sheepishly, "Your Mangler get destroyed when a Gronckle fell on it, right after I shot the Nadder." He answered with a sheepish chuckle, "Sorry, Hiccup, but I think you need to make a new one if you want to use it to hunt wild animals".

Hiccup shook his head, "When I got free time." He said with a sigh, "Later, Gobber".

"Latter, lad." Gobber answered before Hiccup entered the house and closed the door, he sighed as well before turning around and left.

Hiccup looked out of the window to see that Gobber had left before running to the back door, he ran out of the house into the woods, he had a Night Fury to find. His thought was filled with worry as he run to the direction he saw the Night Fury fell into, the Raven's point.

He hoped that his Night Fury survived the fall.

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He couldn't believe it.

That night had started normally for the Night Fury, as normal as it could be on a raid night. He was on his night fishing, since it's dangerous to go fishing during the day when the humans could see him, when he saw a big group of dragons flew to Berk's direction. _Another raid_, he thought in boredom, _what a pig of a Queen they had_.

He was always thought of himself as a leader of his own, never one to be controlled, that's why he could fought the Queen's control over his mind. The fallen Queen had tried to control him many times before, but always failed every time, and so she gave up ever controlling him. The dragons feared him for that, since he had a quality to be a King himself.

Even though he didn't have to help the dragons during a raid, he would always be there to help them. He distracted the Vikings by destroying the towers they used to attack his kind, giving enough time for the dragons to snatch the human's sheep. He was well respected by the dragons because of that, for he was still helping them when he could just leave them be.

He headed to Berk as soon as he saw the coming of raiding dragons, to help them with their raid and to make sure that the Viking boy whom he thought as his own hatchling and brother was safe and protected during the raid. His hatchling never joined his people in fighting dragons, even though he was very capable to kill dragons with his two swords if he ever wanted to, but he had firmly told his people that he wouldn't kill a dragon unless it's the only thing to do to survive. The Night Fury was proud of his hatchling for that, and he promised himself that he would always protect his hatchling so the boy would never have to kill a dragon, so his hands would stay clean of dragon's blood.

That night was no different, mostly. He went to Berk and stayed out of the way until he saw that his help was needed, when he saw that the dragons would be losing the battle, he flew up high before diving and shot one of the towers with his plasma blast. He never missed before, whether it's moving object or not, so didn't have to look to know that his shot had hit the mark. Instead, he found his eyes wandering to the place the humans called as the forge, where they made their weapons and so on, where he know his hatchling would be.

His hatchling was looking at the tower he had just shot in awe, he knew that his hatchling always love to watch him in action, so he would often destroying the Viking's towers with two shot instead of just one. He only needed to shot the tower once to destroy it, but he gained two achievements by destroying the tower with two shots. He always saw the Vikings ducking under their shields every time he shot his plasma blast, and he also saw the awe struck expression his hatchling had every time he shot a plasma blast, so it's two birds with one stone.

He had flew away after he destroyed the tower, taking his time flying in the air above his hatchling until the boy arrived in his usual place, up in the hill where he could give the best show for his hatchling. So, after the boy arrived at the usual place, he began to fly up again and dive bombing the tower nearest to his hatchling.

He was confident that no human would ever caught a sight of him, since they were too afraid of him to really observe his dive bombing pattern, only his hatchling who watched him in awe who ever saw a glimpse of him when he flew passed the blazing tower he had just shot. That's why he couldn't believe what was happening the second after that, he was flying passed the fire when he found himself tied in the thing the Vikings used to capture his kind.

It's unbelievable, really. The time for any human to saw him was only an instant, not enough time to aim their stupid thing at him and threw it with precision to caught him, he was too fast for that, he was practically invisible to the human's eyes. Except for his hatchling who somehow always know where he was, but the one who shot him couldn't be his hatchling, he didn't want to believe that his hatchling would attack him, and was proven correct when he saw the horrified face of his hatchling as the boy saw his falling form.

He wasn't worrying about himself when he trashed so hard to get out of the bound, it's because he saw one of the Monstrous Nightmares was sneaking on his hatchling, he had to free himself and protect his hatchling from getting killed by the big dragon. All his effort was in vain when he felt the pain went through his whole body as he hit the trees, the trees might broke his fall so he wouldn't die, but the pain was too much that he lose consciousness.

When he woke up, the pain was not as bad as the previous one, but he felt an intense pain from his tail fins. He was really worried then, if his tail fins were damaged, he would never be able to fly again, and a downed dragon was as good as a dead dragon. He tried to get out of the thing that tied him, but he couldn't move even an inch of his body, he was doomed.

A horrified gasp caught his attention, causing him to tense and closed his eyes, "Oh Odin, please still be alive!" He relaxed when he heard that it was his hatchling, the boy's scent was calming to him. He opened his eyes when he felt a pair of gentle hands touched him, he immediately locked eyes with his hatchling, whose eyes were filled with tears.

"I'm sorry." The boy sobbed before wrapping his arms around the Night Fury's neck and buried his face on the dragon's scale, "It's my fault, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have create that stupid bola launcher, then you wouldn't be in this situation".

The Night Fury's eyes widened, _Why would my hatchling blamed himself? He wasn't the one who shot me down._ He thought in confusion before it clicked, no human could have enough strength to shot down a Night Fury, the boy had just said something about creating a bola launcher, and he guessed that it was his creation that was used to shot him down.

He cooed softly to his hatchling, he wanted to tell the boy that it wasn't his fault if his creation was used against him, the boy wasn't there to stop whoever had shot him from shooting him down. "I'm sorry." The boy said again before pulling away and wiped his tears, "I will free you now".

He soon felt his restrain loosened and he could move, he stood up and unfurled his wings to make sure that he was in a good shape to fly. Once he was done, he locked eyes with his hatchling. "Please be safe." His hatchling said to him, he answered with a soft purr to let the boy know that he could protect himself just fine, before turning and flew away, or try to since he didn't know why but he continuously knocked onto a rock.

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"Either we finish them or they'll finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them! If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home." Stoick said to the crowd of Vikings around him, he then stabbed the area with the dragons on the map, "One more search. Before the ice sets in".

"Those ships never come back." One of the Vikings argued with him.

"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard." Stoick replied matter-of-factly, "Now, who's with me?" He raised his fist but no one followed him, they all avoiding his eyes. He sighed as he about to use his trump card, "Alright." He said with a shrug, "Those who stay will look after Hiccup . . ."

"Hiccup is the best fighter among his peers." Another Viking argued, "He could take care of himself".

" . . . by making sure he won't accidentally set anything ablaze." Stoick finished his words, since he knew that his Son was capable of protecting himself.

Immediately many hands raised into the air, they would rather go into a dangerous adventure than to try and prevent Hiccup from set anything ablaze unknowingly, many had tried and failed every time.

"That's more like it." Stoick said dryly, he couldn't believe that his Son's reputation was so bad until many Vikings chose to volunteer themselves than to take care of Hiccup.

The Vikings then rushed out to do whatever they wanted to do, leaving Gobber alone with Stoick. "I'll pack my undies." Gobber said as he stood up.

"No, Gobber." Stoick stopped him, "I need you to stay and train some new recruits".

"Oh, perfect." Gobber said calmly, "And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself . . ." He shrugged nonchalantly, "What could possibly go wrong?" _Probably Hiccup would make another crazy contraption like Mangler_, He thought to himself, _but Stoick wouldn't like it_.

Stoick's shoulders dropped as he hear that, he knew what Gobber pointed out; lots of time to himself and Hiccup would make another stupid invention to destroy the village. "What am I going to do with him Gobber?" He asked tiredly.

"Get him to help me training the recruits." Gobber answered, the best answer he could think to solve their problem with Hiccup's hobby to create strange stuffs, and Hiccup would be a great help to him anyway.

"No, I'm serious." Stoick argued.

"So am I." Gobber answered casually.

Stoick turned to glare at Gobber, "He can spar with the other Vikings just fine Gobber, I know it, but not against dragons." He told his friend sternly, "He couldn't help you without learning how to fight dragons with the other recruits, he'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of its cage".

"Oh, you don't know that."

"I do know that, actually."

"No, you don't."

"No, actually I do."

"No, you don't!" Gobber snapped, getting annoyed that his friend didn't even believe in his own Son's strength and ability in fighting dragons. As far as he know, Hiccup could kill a dragon in a matter of minutes with his fighting skill and smart brain, it's just the boy didn't want to kill dragons.

"Listen!" Stoick snapped back at him, "You know what he's like. From the time he could crawl he's been...different. He doesn't listen".

"It runs in the family." Gobber answered him with a snort.

Stoick merely glared at him and continued, "Has the attention span of a sparrow. I take him fishing and he goes hunting for... for trolls".

"Trolls exist!" Gobber said defensively, "They steal your socks, but only the left ones. What's with that?".

"When I was a boy . . ." Stoick completely ignored Gobber's comment, further proving that it really ran in the family that they wouldn't listen.

"Oh here we go." Gobber grumbled boringly.

"My father told me to bang my head against a rock and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?"

"You got a headache."

"That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking could do, Gobber. He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas! Even as a boy, I knew what I was, what I had to become." Stoick finished before sighing heavily, "Hiccup is that boy, but he denied it".

"You can't force him to be something that he's not, Stoick, you can only accept him for himself." Gobber finally said, hopping that his friend would listen this time.

Even though Stoick wanted to argue with him, but deep down he know that it's the truth.

XXXXX

Hiccup entered his house to find his Dad sitting in front of the fire, a big bag was beside him and his axe in hands. He frowned, "You're going out?" He asked as he closed the door.

"Searching for the Nest." Stoick answered as he stood up, he turned to look at Hiccup seriously, "I will be going for about two to three weeks".

Hiccup sighed and walked to his Dad, he knew the look, his Dad wanted to say something. "I'm not entering Dragon Training, Dad." He said as he already guessed what his Dad wanted to tell him about.

"No, you aren't." Stoick agreed in defeat, "You will help Gobber to train the recruits".

Hiccup blinked in surprise, he didn't expect that, "I will?" He asked curiously.

"Yes." Stoick answered shortly as he lifted his bag and axe, "Don't get killed." He then walked over to the door, "I will be back . . . probably." He added the last part as he knew just how dangerous the trip to the Nest could be.

"And I will be here." Hiccup answered as he watched his Dad's retreating back, "Maybe." He added just before Stoick left the house, knowing full well that he might get banished anytime now for refusing to kill dragons.

The only reason why he didn't get banished from the start was because he's the Heir, but his status couldn't keep him in the village forever. They could choose another Heir to replace him and banish him against Stoick's wish, especially now that the Chief was away.

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To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

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"So, what can I help you with?" Hiccup asked as he and Gobber exited the forge and headed to the Training arena, they were previously working on sharpening the dull weapons in case there's another attack.

"Well, the recruits would still be on their way to the arena, so you could help me by checking the lock of each cage." Gobber explained to him, "Wouldn't want for another dragon to get out while the kids fighting a dragon, would we?".

"Yeah, because we know how good that would be." Hiccup answered sarcastically.

"Have you brought your dual swords?" Gobber asked curiously, "Just in case".

"No. I already told you that I won't kill a dragon unless it's the only thing to do to survive, and so far, I don't have to kill them to survive, so I won't raise my Wing Blades against them." Hiccup answered calmly.

'Wing Blades' was the name of his dual swords, the swords he had made by himself which was as light as a dagger but strong like an axe. He made the swords using some of the scales that he found lying around on the ground in the woods, usually near the spot where he was spending time alone. He knew that the black dragon was always watching him, since he always felt like he was being watched when he was in the woods alone, but he wasn't afraid. He just know that his dragon would never hurt him.

He made the sword with the help of the Nadder from the arena, he knew that dragons weren't mindless creatures, so he always went to the arena at night to get to know the dragons there, talking to them and sneaking them foods. He had sneaked the Nadder out of the arena and to the forge where he asked the female dragon to use her fire on the scales so he could shaped them, then returned the dragon into the arena after he told the Nadder that he couldn't set her free without attracting suspicion from the people, the Nadder had an understanding character so she reluctantly agreed to return to her pen.

The people didn't know that he made the swords using dragon scales, he told them that he made the swords using normal steels then painted them black with some ink. He didn't want for them to know that dragon scales could be forged into weapon, they could endanger the dragon's existence that way. He supposed keeping secrets from the village wouldn't hurt, it's not like he helped the dragons in the raid.

"My dual swords are to fight against pirates and outcasts, not dragons. For dragons, I have these." He then raised his belt to show the two short rods he had made especially to defend himself against dragons, he wouldn't kill them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't defend himself if he got attacked. The rods he had with him was as long as a sword and he made it that they can be connected into one long rod, so it could be use as a weapon, just couldn't be use to cut something. "These rods are enough for me to defend myself against a dragon, so don't worry".

"I don't understand why you don't want to kill dragons." Gobber sighed, "You can kill them, I know you are skilled enough to do so. If you kill them, you'll finally be accepted by the others, you even might get a girlfriend".

"Because it's not me, Gobber." Hiccup answered with the same answer he would give every time anyone asked his reason, because it's the truth. He wasn't one to kill dragons, his heart and mind were unable to handle the knowledge that he had kill another living being, one that was as intelligent and have feelings like humans do. "So, I will go and check the cages." He said to change the subject.

Gobber merely sighed when he received the same answer again, he know that he would never understand the real reason unless Hiccup would explain more than just saying that it's not him. "You do that." He said finally, "I will wait for the recruits".

Hiccup nodded and went to the cages, checking everything to make sure that the lock would be strong enough to hold the strength of the dragons. After he finished, he walked to where he could stand without getting in the recruit's way.

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" He looked up when he heard Gobber's voice and saw the man welcoming the other teens.

Hiccup watched in amusement as the teens entered the arena acting like gladiators entering the coliseum, or tried to because all of them, aside from Astrid, were looking more awe struck than determined.

"No turning back." Astrid said as she observed the arena, Hiccup just know that the girl was looking for something she could use to fight dragons.

"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut said, trying to sound cool.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut joined in.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid said absent-mindedly.

Hiccup chuckled, "Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it." He said in sarcastic humor, he just couldn't understand why they like to get themselves scars like that.

In his opinion, someone who could come out from a fight without a scar was better than those who come out from a same level of fight and got a bad wound and scar, it's just show who was more skillful between the two type of Vikings. Gobber's case was different, he wouldn't call Gobber as not skillful since he know just how skillful the old blacksmith was, but his fellow teens idea of getting a scar from Training as something cool was considered foolish in his dictionary.

The recruits looked at him before he got two different reaction, Snotlout and Tuffnut were groaning while Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and Astrid were looking at him with wide eyes, surprised that he would be in an arena where people were taught to kill dragons.

"Oh great. Who let him in?" Tuffnut groaned as he scowled at Hiccup.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "Gobber let me in." He said matter-of-factly, "Just like I'm his assistant in the forge, I'm assisting him in this Training".

"You?" Snotlout asked with a sneer, "There's nothing you could assist Gobber with, you can only get in his way, Hiccup the Useless".

_For my cousin, he sure shows how much he love me._ Hiccup thought sarcastically, "Really?" He challenged his cousin, "Then let's just see how much I get in Gobber's way, shall we?".

"Alright! Let's get started!" Gobber exclaimed to break the tension, "The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village".

_A false honor_, Hiccup thought bitterly, _There's no honor in killing another living being that is as intelligent as humans,_ but it's just the way of live around here, so he couldn't complain.

Gobber went towards the five cages in the arena, the dragons inside were growling and roaring the whole time. "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight." He said as he walked.

Hiccup noticed that Fishlegs bounced and giggled with excitement, clearly barely able to contain himself.

"The Deadly Nadder." Gobber announced as he walked past the door of the Nadder.

"Speed eight. Armor sixteen." Fishlegs said the information he knows about the dragon in answer to what Gobber said.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"Plus eleven stealth. Times two."

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Firepower fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack eight, venom twelve."

"CAN YOU STOP THAT?!" Gobber snapped as he couldn't stand the boy's habit of stating fact about dragons, he sighed, "And...the Gronckle".

"Jaw strength, eight." Fishlegs finished, earning a glare from Gobber as the man reached onto the lever and pulled it, raising the log that keep the door closed.

"Whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first!?" Snotlout protested in panic.

"I believe in learning on the job." Gobber answered with a grin.

Hiccup chuckled, he had found out Gobber's way of teaching the hard way when he learnt about blacksmithing, and it amused him that the man would apply the same method with teaching how to fight dragons.

The Gronckle immediately hit the door open with her body and charged into the recruit's direction, making the teens scrambled in many directions. Well, except for Ruffnut and Tuffnut who rushed towards her instead, they were just crazy like that.

"Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead." Gobber explained as he walked to where Hiccup stood, "Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?".

"A doctor?" Hiccup offered, he just knew that his fellow teens would need some medication once the training was over.

Gobber glared at him in response.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs suggested.

Gobber and Hiccup sweat dropped, that was even worse than Hiccup's suggestion.

"A shield!" Astrid said confidently, earning a smirk from Hiccup and a grin from Gobber.

"Shields! Go!" Gobber ordered cheerfully, glad that at least one of the teens had enough brain to think for the right answer. The recruits immediately scramble for the shields that were scattered around the ring. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield".

"Personally, I would go for the one needed for the moment." Hiccup said quietly to Gobber, "You need a shield to protect yourself, but you need a sword to attack your opponent. So I would look for the situation first, whichever needed the most at the moment then I will take it".

"You are smart, lad." Gobber praised him, "At this situation though, you need a shield more than a sword, don't you think?".

"True." Hiccup agreed before they focused on the recruits once more.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were standing amidst a dozen of shields, there's only one that has a skull painted on it, and they both grabbed it at the same time.

"Get your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut yelled at his twin.

"There are like a million shields!" Ruffnut retorted.

"Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers." Tuffnut argued back, but his argument causing Ruffnut to use the shield to bash him in the face, and yet he wouldn't let go of the shield.

"Ooops, now this one has blood on it." Ruffnut said after she bash her twin.

Their bickering had drawn the Gonckle's attention to them, the dragon blasted the shield out of their hands, they were spinning from the impact before dropping to the ground.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" Gobber yelled at them.

"What?!" Both of them exclaimed, one in a daze while the other in confusion.

Hiccup shook his head in wonder, how the twins could still bicker in the middle of a fight against a dragon was beyond him. He looked around and saw that the Gronckle scooped up a pile of rocks before eating them, while the remaining teens gathered on the far side of the ring.

"Those shields are good for another thing. Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." Gobber advised as he saw that the teens were really clueless in fighting dragons, he was too used with Hiccup's fast thinking that he thought that the rest of the teens would already figured out the basic knowledge of fighting dragons.

The teens began hammering their weapons against their shields, the Gronckle shook it's head in response to the clatter, making it unable to aim properly.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?" Gobber asked the recruits while they circling the dragon.

"Five?" Snotlout guessed.

"No, six!" Fishlegs corrected as he raised his shield.

"Correct, six. That's more than enough for each of you!" Gobber praised the boy for answering the question right, he soon disappointed that the boy didn't get back on banging his shield and got his shield blasted by the Gronckle as the result, "Fishlegs, out." He sighed.

Hiccup watched Fishlegs get out to safety first before looking at the remaining teens, only Snotlout and Astrid left, and he focused on them.

Astrid was watching the Gronckle, ready to avoiding the blast from the Gronckle at any given time, too bad that Snotlout was trying to hit on her. "So anyway I'm moving into my parent's basement. You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out-" She ignored him and moved out of the way, the shot from the Gronckle hit Snotlout's shield and the boy get blasted onto his back.

"Two more left, Astrid!" Hiccup cheered on her.

Astrid looked at Hiccup for a split second before focusing back on the dragon, but she nodded her head in acknowledgement to what the boy had said. The Gronckle shot at her again and Astrid blocked it with her shield, unfortunately, the shield had thrown out from her hand. Without a weapon, a shield, and a place to run, she was trapped.

"Astrid!" Gobber and Hiccup yelled together, fearing for the girl's life.

Astrid feared for her life, she never thought that she would get killed by a dragon, during her first Training too. When the Gronckle opened it's mouth, ready to blast her to crisp, she closed her eyes in fear before feeling herself knocked aside. She heard the blast but she didn't in pain, so she opened her eyes slowly and immediately widened her eyes in surprise, she was a few feet away from her previous place and was on top of Hiccup.

When Gobber and Hiccup saw that Astrid was trapped, they immediately went to her rescue. Gobber hooked the dragon's mouth at the last second and jerked it upwards while Hiccup pulled Astrid as hard as he could, making them thrown backwards in the process, and shielding her from the fall with his body. They both had got to her in time and had saved her life.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked in surprise as she moved away from him.

Hiccup sat up and looked at her, "You okay?" He asked in worry as he stood up and offered his hand to her, "You didn't hurt, did you?".

"I'm okay." Astrid answered as she took the offered hand and stood up then pulled her hand out of Hiccup's, "Thank you . . . for saving me." She said slowly. She couldn't believe that she was save by Hiccup of all people, but then again, Hiccup was the best fighter among them and was chosen to assist Gobber in the Training despite his refusal in killing dragons, so it shouldn't surprise her that much.

"You are welcome." Hiccup answered before he went to Gobber and helped the man wrestled the dragon back into it's pen.

"Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!" Gobber said as they pushed the dragon into the pen, "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." He then said to the recruits once he finished locking the pen, he turned to look at the teens, "Remember, a dragon will always . . ." He looked at them seriously, ". . . **always** go for the kill".

They all looked at the steaming scorch mark at the wall, but Hiccup couldn't help but remember his Night Fury and the Nadder. _Not always_, he thought before walking away from them, he didn't want to stay in there any longer, _If always, then I would be dead 8 years ago_.

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

* * *

Hiccup was back at the woods where he found his Night Fury tied in the bola. The way his dragon fly the previous night had bothered him greatly, he had never seen his Night Fury fly so awkwardly before. Sure, he had only ever seen a glimpse of his dragon all until last night, but he knew that there's no way his dragon could attack the catapult towers so gracefully all those times in the raids if his dragon always flying so awkwardly.

Hiccup looked around to make sure no one would see him before he walked to the direction his Night Fury went, he had to make sure that his dragon had gone and away from his dangerous tribe. Walking slowly to see if there's a trail that could lead him, he found himself in an entrance to a cove, with some black scales scattered on the ground.

He picked them up and immediately know who the scales belong to, he pocketed them before jumping back in surprise when a black figure appeared so suddenly and struggled to climb the walls of rock surrounding the Cove. Hiccup's eyes widened when he recognize the figure as his dragon, flapping violently before retreating into a rough landing.

His dragon looked exhausted and frustrated, leaping into the air and flapping furiously only to crash into the rocks and forced to land, again and again his dragon tried to fly only to get the same result. A horrified gasp escaped him as he realized that his dragon was trapped, the mighty dragon couldn't get out of the Cove.

"Why couldn't he fly?" Hiccup asked himself in worry as he pulled out his leather bound book and flipped it over many drawings of his inventions to a blank page, he began sketching his dragon's form to figure out the reason why the fastest dragon known to man couldn't fly out of the Cove. As he sketched, he found out the reason, his dragon's left tail fin was gone.

His Night Fury clawed at the rock walls to try and climbed out of the Cove, but he slipped and fell again. He shot at the ground, clearly frustrated, before trying again, and again he failed. The black dragon got back to his feet and noticed a ripple in the water, he crawled into the water's edge and snapped at the fishes nearby, but he came out empty.

Hiccup's hand trembled as he watched his dragon lowered his head with a defeated look, he lost grip on his charcoal stick and it fell to the rock he was on, rolling over the edge and fell into the Cove. The Night Fury heard the sound of his charcoal stick made and raised his head, looking straight at Hiccup. Hiccup looked at his dragon sadly while his dragon merely looked at him in curiosity, he couldn't handle the guilt that washed over him from the knowledge that it was his invention that had grounded his Night Fury, he turned around and ran away from the Cove, away from his dragon.

He ran straight to his house and into his room, he flopped on his bed and tried to control his breath. He was not a stranger to guilt, he always felt guilty when he accidentally set his village ablaze during a raid, but the guilt that he felt this time was greater than what he normally felt. It stabbed at his heart as he remembered that it was his invention that had stripped his Night Fury of his freedom, it's his fault that his dragon was now trapped in the Cove.

He couldn't hold it anymore, tears fell from his eyes and he buried his face into his pillow, he cried himself to sleep.

When he woke up, he saw that it's night and the storm was brewing. He sighed as he sat up, his stomach demanded for him to feed it, so he went to the Great Hall.

"Ah, Hiccup!" Gobber greeted him as he entered the hall, "Nice timing, come here, lad".

Hiccup raised an eyebrow and went over to him, "What is it, Gobber?" He asked curiously.

"Where do you think they go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber asked him as he motioned the other teens.

"Why do you ask him?" Snotlout demanded as he sneered at Hiccup, "You are the mentor, not him".

"Well, he **is** the best fighter among all of you." Gobber reasoned, "And he got a strong memory, so he could point out your mistake easier than me".

Hiccup sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "Must I say it?" He asked Gobber, "You know as well as I do that they wouldn't listen to anything I have to say".

Gobber shrugged, "I want to know if you were paying attention today." He said in the end.

Hiccup inhaled deeply, "Ruffnut and Tuffnut." He began, "Your mistake was when you two were bickering over a shield while facing a dragon, you two could get killed because of that".

Ruffnut and Tuffnut shrugged, "We like fighting each other." Ruffnut said.

"And it's boring if we just focus on the dragon." Tuffnut added in agreement.

Hiccup ignored their response and looked at Fishlegs, "Fishlegs, a shield is used to protect yourself, not to be raised over your head." He told the boy, who nodded in agreement at him.

"Snotlout." Hiccup glanced at his scowling cousin, "Your mistake was you were flirting with Astrid, your action could endanger both yourself and Astrid, you could get both of you killed".

"What did you say?" Snotlout asked angrily.

"If you didn't hear me then you are deaf." Hiccup said in annoyance and looked at Astrid, "Where do you think you go wrong today, Astrid?" He asked the girl.

"I mistimed my summersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble." Astrid answered seriously. She may dislike it that Hiccup bested her in fighting, but she respected Hiccup for his skill enough to treat him seriously and not ignoring him, not to mention that she secretly admired the boy for his skill and brain. Besides, the boy had saved her that day, she owed him that much.

Her respond got many eye rolls though, "Yeah, we noticed." Ruffnut said sarcastically.

"No, no, you were great." Snotlout argued as he grabbed Astrid's hand, "That was so 'Astrid' ".

Astrid looked at him in disgust and pulled her hand away, "She's right, you have to be tough on yourselves." Gobber told them all.

Astrid nodded at him before looking at Hiccup, "Where do **you** think I go wrong today?" She asked, it seemed that only her and Fishlegs who had enough brain to ask advise from the best fighter around their age, the others seemed to ignore him just because he said he didn't want to kill dragons.

"You got yourself trapped between a dragon and a wall." Hiccup answered as he finished taking his food and sat on the table next to them. He was well aware that the other teens, aside from Astrid and Fishlegs, didn't want him to join them at their table. "When you are fighting a dragon, you have to careful about your back. You can't avoid their attack if your movement restricted by a wall behind your back, so be sure to stay away from the wall, the least is you got enough room between the wall and your back so you could still move at any given time".

"Hah, what do you know about fighting dragons?" Snotlout asked with a sneer, "You clearly said you don't want to fight them, so there's no way you know anything about dragon fighting".

Astrid punched Snotlout at the shoulder, "Hiccup said he refused to **kill** dragons, not to **fight** them." She reminded him.

"It's the same thing." Tuffnut said with a sneer to Hiccup.

Hiccup merely looked at him blankly before focusing on his food.

"Thank you, Hiccup." Gobber said as he got up, "You need to live and breathe this stuff." He then laid a giant book in the center of the table, "The dragon manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of".

They all looked up when a loud rumble of thunder shook the hall, with rain pouring heavily outside.

"No attacks tonight. Study up." Gobber continued before he exited the hall into the storm, leaving the teens to stare at the book.

"Wait, you mean _read_?" Tuffnut asked incredulously.

"While we're still _alive_?" Ruffnut joined in.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout added into the row of questions.

"You wouldn't know how to kill something without knowing what that something is, Snotlout." Hiccup answered him absent-mindedly, he was still in low spirit after he found out that his Night Fury got trapped in the Cove because of him, or one of his inventions.

"Oh! I've read it like, seven times." Fishlegs announced in high spirit, "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face . . .".

"It's Scauldron." Hiccup informed them absently.

"And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week . . ." Fishlegs continued excitedly.

"Whispering Death do that." Hiccup commented.

The teens stared at the two of them before Tuffnut thought that he had had enough, "Yeah, that sounds great." He cut in, "There was a chance I was going to read that . . .".

" . . . but now." Ruffnut finished with bored face.

Snotlout got up from his seat, "You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." He said before he marched up to the door, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs followed him.

"Oh and there's this other one that has these spines that look like trees . . ." Fishlegs continued to tell the teens, much to their annoyance.

"Have you read the book?" Hiccup asked Astrid as the girl stood up to leave as well.

"I have." Astrid answered shortly before leaving the hall.

"That means only Astrid and Fishlegs who are going to be spared by Gobber." Hiccup muttered to himself before finishing his dinner, once he was done, he was the only one left in the hall and the only source of light was from the few candles on his table.

He took the abandoned book and opened it, he had read the book in the past, but he figured that reading it once again wouldn't hurt. "Dragon classifications. Strike class. Fear class. Mystery class." He read out loud to himself, "Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." His eyes drifted to an illustration of decapitated Vikings.

He shrugged and flipped the page, "Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." He raised an eyebrow and flipped into another page, "Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at it's victim. Extremely dangerous".

Hiccup then jumped when he heard a particular loud thunder, he looked at the window before continued reading, "Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight." He sighed as he began to grow bored with what was written in the book, so he flipped through the pages "Gronckle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Bone Knapper. Whispering Death. Burns it's victims. Buries it's victims. Chokes it's victims. Turns it's victims inside-out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight . . ." he growled, "Is there anything that didn't have 'Extremely dangerous' and 'Kill on sight' in this book?" He asked in annoyance before he got to the last page on the book.

"Night Fury." He read and looked down, there's no image in the book, only a few lines, "Speed, unknown. Size, unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it **does not find**** you**." He sighed, "What dramatic details." He grumbled as he pulled out his sketch book and opened it to the newest drawing in there, his sketch of his Night Fury without his left tail fin, "Three times I met him, each time I didn't hide nor pray he didn't find me, and yet I'm still alive".

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

* * *

"Have you study?" Gobber asked as soon as the recruits entered the arena, he was disappointed when Hiccup told him how Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut left without reading the book he told them to, Astrid and Fishlegs already read the book before so he spared them.

The teens, aside from Fishlegs and Astrid, froze on the spot. They looked at him with wide eyes, while Astrid and Fishlegs looked curious why Hiccup wasn't with Gobber in the ring. "I've read it seven times, Gobber!" Fishlegs said excitedly with a wide grin on his face.

"I read it twice." Astrid added, "Once when I was 10 and I read it again before the first day of the training".

Gobber nodded approvingly at them, he looked at the rest with a questioning look. "Why would you read a book when you can just kill the dragons?" Snotlout asked to try and defend himself, Ruffnut and Tuffnut nodded their heads eagerly in agreement.

Gobber smirked deviously at them, "You lot aren't going to fight dragons today ." He announced as he motioned for them to follow him, the teens looked at each other in confusion before following him out of the arena and into the forest.

They walked deep into the forest until they arrived at a big clearing where a pile of axes and sacks were in the center of the clearing, they also saw Hiccup leaning on a tree with his arms crossed, beside him were a row of target board nailed on the trees.

Hiccup walked over to them and motioned for the pile of sacks, "Take one, each of you." He said simply before going to sit under one of the trees behind them.

"You heard him." Gobber said as he joined Hiccup, "Take one of those sacks".

"For what?" Astrid asked in confusion as she looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Just do as I told you." Gobber said shortly. The teens shrugged before each took a sack, a frown of confusion was on their faces as they did so. "Run around the clearing while carrying those sacks, keep running until you couldn't run anymore." The teens looked at him with wide eyes filled with disbelief.

"What?!" Snotlout exclaimed in disbelief, "Why are we doing this?!".

"Yeah!" Tuffnut protested, "We are supposed to learn how to kill dragons!".

"You are going to train for endurance, strength and accuracy." Hiccup explained to them as he had enough of their complains, "You need stamina to fight evenly against dragons, so running while carrying those sacks would be the perfect way to train your endurance and stamina." He then motioned to the axes and target board, "You will later throw those axes and try to hit the target board, it will help with your strength and increase your accuracy, you will need them if you plan to catch a dragon using a bola".

"Oooh." The teens said as they finally understand the reason for the training.

"Not just that though." Gobber added silently with a devious grin on his face.

The teens ran around the clearing while carrying the sacks for as long as they could. Fishlegs was the first to collapse in exhaustion, his size was a disadvantage for him as it's harder and more tiring to run with a big body instead of a slim one. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were racing each other and tried to outrun each other, they waste their energy because of that and collapse at the same time. Astrid and Snotlout last longer than the rest, but Astrid didn't have enough training for endurance and collapse a few laps after the twins. Snotlout last the longer, but he only managed to run another lap before collapse as well.

"Hiccup?" Gobber asked once all the teens collapse in exhaustion.

"Fishlegs had run 5 laps, Ruff and Tuff managed to run 8 laps, Astrid is halfway to the 11 laps and Snotlout is 12." Hiccup answered as he looked at his note book, he was keeping track for how many laps the teens managed to reach before falling in exhaustion.

"Hmm, not good enough." Gobber commented before looking at the teens, "You all will do this every morning, I want for you to at least could run 20 laps while carrying those sacks".

The teens groaned in answer, they didn't want to do that everyday.

"You have half an hour to rest, then each of you will throw those axes." Gobber announced, ignoring the teen's protests.

After resting for 30 minutes, the teens picked an axe for each of them and stand across one of the targets. They threw the axes at the targets, Astrid and Snotlout hit the mark while the twins missed a few inches from the targets, Fishlegs axe missed the target completely and went farther than the target.

"One point for Astrid and Snotlout." Hiccup announced as he marked a point beside their name on his note book.

Gobber nodded as he looked towards the teens, he waited until all of them get ready to throw the axes before asking, "Who knows the name of the dragon that spray acid instead of fire?".

Gobber's question surprised the teens and all of them, aside from Astrid, missed their targets. "What?" The teens, aside from Fishlegs, asked in confusion as they looked at Gobber.

"Changewing!" Fishlegs answered Gobber's question.

Hiccup marked another point for Astrid and one point for Fishlegs, "One point for Astrid for hitting the target, one point for Fishlegs for answering the question." He announced again.

They looked at him in confusion while Gobber shot them a grin, "You will each receive a point for hitting the target and answering the question, if you can hit the target and answer the question at the same time, you got two points." He explained to them, "The more you get the points, the better, so whoever got the fewest point will clean the dragon pens after Hiccup finished feeding them".

"What?!" The trainees exclaimed in shock.

Gobber laughed evilly, "Now you are regretting that you didn't read the book when I told you, aren't you?" He asked before motioning to the targets again, "I will ask a question each time you will throw those axes, so get ready!".

Astrid had a look of determination on her face, she knew that she could hit her target and answer the question right. Fishlegs half worried and half relieved, worried because he couldn't hit the target but relieved since he knew more about dragons than the other teens. The rest paled and grew nervous, Snotlout missed his target earlier since he was surprised by Gobber's question, the twins didn't even know if they could hit their targets, let alone answering Gobber's questions while throwing their axes.

"Get ready!" Gobber yelled and the teens hurriedly picked up their axes, "What's the name of a dragon that spray scalding water?!" He asked as the teens get ready to throw the axes again.

_"Oh! I've read it like, seven times." Fishlegs announced in high spirit,__ "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face . . ."._

_"It's Scauldron." Hiccup informed them absently._

Astrid remembered what Fishlegs and Hiccup said before they left the Great Hall and smirked to herself, "Scauldron!" She and Fishlegs answered confidently. She hit her target while Fishlegs missed his target by a few inches above it, at least he didn't throw it way off course like before.

"Two points for Astrid, one for Fishlegs." Hiccup announced as he marked their points.

These continued until Gobber ran out of questions to be asked at the teens, by the time it happened, the teens were panting heavily and many of the trees had marks on it from the time the teens missed their targets.

"So, how many they got, Hiccup?" Gobber asked his apprentice and assistant.

"Astrid hit the target 30 times and answered 18 questions, the total is 48 points." Hiccup began as he counted the teen's scores, "Fishlegs hit the targets 8 times and answered 24 questions, the total is 32 points. Snotlout hit the target 16 times and answered 4 questions, the total is 20 points. Ruffnut hit the target 10 times and answered 3 questions while Tuffnut hit the target 11 times and answered 2 questions, both got 13 points".

"That means . . ." Gobber smirked evilly at the twins, "You have to clean the pens, Ruffnut and Tuffnut".

Astrid looked satisfied hearing the announcement, Fishlegs and Snotlout looked relieved, while the twins groaned in defeat. Hiccup closed his book and put it inside his vest as he stood up, "Alright, I will feed the dragons now." He said as he began walking, "I will call you two once I finished".

"Don't call us so we don't have to clean the pens!" Tuffnut yelled to Hiccup, earning a smack from Gobber.

"Make sure to call them, Hiccup!" Gobber yelled before Hiccup got out of earshot, Hiccup gave a thumb up in answer without turning to look at his mentor.

Hiccup headed for the dock to fetch the cart carrying baskets of fishes for the dragons. He went back to the arena and dumped all of them onto the floor, "Okay, that's disgusting." He said to himself as he saw the pile of fishes, even though he had been the one in charge of feeding the dragons for a year now, he still couldn't get used hearing the wet slick of when the fishes being poured from the baskets.

_Wait_, Hiccup blinked as he remembered something, _Didn't my Night Fury failed to catch fish yesterday? What if he is starving right now?_ He bit his lip as guilt washed over him again, he picked up some fishes and put them into a basket then brought them away from the rest of the fishes, he would bring them for his dragon later.

"Alright, you lot." Hiccup said out loud so the dragons could hear him, "I brought food for you, so don't attack me." And he promptly opened all of the pens, "Enjoy your food." He said before walking to where he usually stood while watching the other teens trained, to give privacy to the dragons who were still unease with him around.

The first to walk out was the Nadder, she saw him and immediately went to him and nuzzled him. Hiccup laughed, "Nice to see you too, Stormfly." He greeted the blue and yellow dragon.

For 5 years now he had sneaked out of his house at night to visit the dragons and get to know them, but now he didn't have to sneak out again since he was the one in charge to feed the dragons, except if he wanted to visit them at night. He had named all of the dragons after getting to know them. The Deadly Nadder was Stormfly, the Gronckle was Meatlug, the two heads of Zippleback were Barf and Belch, the Terrible Terror was Sharpshot, and the Monstrous Nightmare was Hookfang. Stormfly, Sharpshot, and Meatlug were friendly with him and like to be in his presence, Barf and Belch were neutral around him, while Hookfang was still wary of him because he was the newest from them all, he had just get captured in the last raid.

Hearing his voice, Sharpshot and Meatlug immediately jogged out of their pens and went to him, Sharpshot went to his shoulder while Meatlug nuzzled his chest. Hiccup grinned at them, "I miss you guys too." He said softly, "But I couldn't be here long, there's a starving Night Fury in the woods, he's trapped there, so I need to bring food to him too. Eat up, you guys, I will visit you tonight so I can tell you what happened with the Night Fury".

The three dragons chirped at him before went to the pile of fishes and began eating, joined by the Zippleback and the Nightmare. He watched them eat with a smile on his face, watching the dragons eating their food always felt relaxing to him, he felt content like he was watching a happy family, something that he didn't have for his Dad had always been disappointed with him for being himself.

Once the dragons finished their food, Hiccup got them back into their pens and locked them, he always apologized to the dragons that he couldn't free them or he would get in a dangerous situation since he felt bad for locking them like that.

Hiccup then went straight to the Cove after telling Ruffnut and Tuffnut that he had done feeding the dragons, he walked down the path way to the bottom of the Cove and looked around for his dragon. A soft growl from behind him told him his dragon's location, he turned around and saw his dragon slowly walked to him. He blinked as that was the first time his dragon ever saw him with slit eyes, normally his dragon's eyes were big and a bit round that make him looked adorable.

Hiccup let the basket down and pulled a fish before offering it to his dragon silently, he didn't know how his dragon would react when his eyes were slit like that, so he wanted to be cautious.

His dragon growled at him and stared at something in his vest, he blinked and moved his vest and saw that he had his dagger slipped into his belt. His eyes widened as he realized that his dragon was being cautious as well since he got a weapon with him, he immediately pulled the dagger and dropped it to the ground to show that he wouldn't harm the Night Fury, the said dragon moved his head towards the lake direction in response. Hiccup picked the dagger with his foot and threw it to the lake, he was then amused when his dragon's posture wasn't aggressive anymore, his dragon even looked cute as he sat up and looked at him with big and round eyes, looking like an innocent puppy.

Hiccup smiled at his dragon, he offered the fish again, "Here." He said softly, "I bet you are hungry." His dragon immediately approached him and opened his mouth, "Huh? Toothless? I could have sworn you had-" He was cut off when small, and yet sharp, white teeth shot out from the gums and his dragon snatched the fish from his hand, " . . . teeth." He finished as he stared at his dragon in awe, "You got retractable teeth, huh? What a unique dragon you are".

The Night Fury cooed at him and looked at the rest of the fishes, Hiccup smiled and poured out the fishes from the basket, it's not as much as the one from the arena got, but at least it should be enough until he could get more for his dragon tomorrow. His dragon let out a happy purr and began eating, Hiccup sat down near his dragon as he watched the dragon eat, just like when he feed the other dragons, he smiled contently as he watched his dragon eat.

He blinked though when the Night Fury looked at him when he finished his food, "Are you still hungry?" Hiccup asked when his dragon sniffed at him, "I'm sorry, but I don't have anymore." He said with an apologetic expression.

His dragon looked straight at his eyes before the black dragon began making odd sound, and before he know it, he had a lap full of the tail part of a fish. "Eew." He grimaced at the sight and smell of the regurgitated fish, he looked at the dragon with questioning gaze.

He watched as his dragon sat up like a human would and stared back at him, after a moment of staring at each other, his dragon looked at the fish before looking up at him. Hiccup's eyes widened as he looked at the fish and then up at his dragon, _He wants me to eat this?_ He thought in disbelief, he looked at the expectant gaze of his dragon and sighed before lifting up the fish to his face, he hesitated a bit before closing his eyes and bit into the fish.

The taste was . . . in a word, awful. He had to force himself not to throw up right there and then, he opened his eyes and looked at his dragon, he forced himself to smile and make an appreciating noise as he offered the fish to the dragon again in hope the dragon would finish it for him. No such luck, not only that his dragon didn't eat the fish again, but he made a swallowing gesture, telling Hiccup to swallow the fish in his mouth.

Hiccup looked at his dragon with a disbelieving look before sighing heavily and took a big gulp, he nearly throwing it up but then forced himself to swallow it. Once the fish downed his throat, he shuddered at the awful taste. Then remembering his dragon, he give a half smile half grimace at the Night Fury.

The Night Fury narrowed his eyes at Hiccup before trying to copy the smile, it's an awkward smile and looked a bit unnatural for the dragon, but a smile nonetheless. Hiccup looked at his dragon in awe and unconsciously lifting a hand to pet him before he remembered that his invention was the cause for the downfall of his dragon, guilt washed over him once again and he lowered his hand, he didn't feel like he had the right to touch his dragon.

His dragon's smile disappeared and the dragon looked at him curiously before walking away, a few feet away from Hiccup, the dragon burnt the ground with his fire before laying on it and get comfortable. Hiccup watched his dragon with sadness and guilt when the dragon looked up at the sound of a bird chirping at it's nest, the dragon looked the bird fly away with something like longing in his eyes before laying his head on the ground and proceed to sleep.

Hiccup sighed and looked around for something to do, he didn't want to go back into an empty home, so he ended up using his free time sitting on a rock and drew many things on the ground in front of him. He didn't know how long he sat there and draw, but he noticed when his dragon watched him from behind as he was in the middle of drawing the Night Fury.

"I'm sorry." Hiccup said softly as he keep drawing but in slower pace, "It's all my fault, if only I didn't made Mangler, then you would still flying freely in the sky." He finished his drawing and looked up at his dragon with sad eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry".

His dragon cooed softly at him before looking at the drawing he had made, his eyes brightened before walking away to one of the trees in the Cove. Hiccup watched in interest as the dragon brought down a whole branch that was as long as the dragon itself and began made a drawing on the ground, the dragon circling around him and nearly smacked him with the tree before stopping.

The Night Fury looked at his drawing with a nod of satisfaction, he made the drawing was for a reason. He didn't like it when the human he care like his own hatchling and brother was sad, so he made a drawing of the boy to cheer him up.

He caught a movement and looked up at his hatchling brother, the boy had stood up and was looking at the drawing with wonder shown in his eyes. The Night Fury purred happily as he noticed that the sadness had disappeared from the boy's eyes, but then he growled unhappily when his brother at heart stepped on a line of his drawing, the boy flinched and raised his foot back up while looking at him.

Then, as if to tease him, the boy stepped on the line two more times, each earning a growl from the dragon, before stepping over the line. The dragon's ears raised before purring in approval at the boy, the boy smiled at him. The Night Fury then followed the boy's form as he danced his way through the drawing, he walked following the boy until he got right behind the boy.

Hiccup was feeling better as he danced his way through the drawing his dragon made, his guilt forgotten and only wonder remain. When he felt a warm breath from behind him, he stopped his movement and looked back in surprise, he didn't notice that he had gotten right in front of the dragon. His wonder turned into longing as he stared at his dragon, he gave into the temptation and raised his hand, he wanted to touch his dragon, the one who was always around him even though never showing himself.

His dragon softly growled at him and he froze, he bit his lower lip as he felt like he was being rejected, it hurt. He lowered his hand with a sigh before noticing the look on his dragon's face, the dragon's eyes were expectant, as if waiting for him to do something.

_Trust_, his mind supplied for him. He didn't know how he know it, but he just know that his dragon was waiting for him to do something that showed that the dragon could trust him. To show someone that they could trust another was to show a sign of trust, because a feeling of trust was mutual. So, Hiccup lowered his head and closed his eyes before slowly raising his hand again, stopping when he felt his dragon's breath on his palm.

He was giving his trust to his dragon, what he did showed his dragon that he trust the dragon not to bite his hand off, and he was giving a choice to the dragon, a choice to trust him as well or not.

Hiccup held his breath as he waited, he then felt something warm on his palm and opened his eyes, he looked at his dragon and saw that the dragon had touched his hand with his head, the dragon's eyes closed as a sign of trust.

The Night Fury opened his eyes and locked gaze with Hiccup, the dragon then purred and began nuzzling his hand. A warmth feeling spread through Hiccup's chest and he smiled warmly at the dragon, "Thank you." He whispered softly as his vision blurred a bit, he blinked to clear it. The dragon looked up at him just as a single tear escaped his eyes and downed his cheek, the dragon cooed at him again and Hiccup couldn't stop himself, he threw himself onto the dragon and hugged him.

The second he felt the warm scale of his dragon on his palm, he knew. He knew that he wasn't alone anymore, that he finally had a real friend, someone who accepted him for him.

The dragons from the arena might be his companion, he feed them and they like him because he treated them gently. They were friendly to him but not his friend yet, they were still cautious of him sometimes, they still need more times until he and the dragons could be real friends who would be there for each other.

His Night Fury was his real friend, he just knew that he could count on the dragon to help him when he need it, and he know that even if he had a weapon with him again, the dragon wouldn't be wary of him anymore. The dragon trust him not to attack, not to hurt the dragon, and that was the core of friendship. Trust.

"Thank you." Hiccup repeated, a genuine gratitude filled him and happiness wrapped around him, "You don't know how much this mean to me".

The Night Fury purred and covered Hiccup with his wings, hugging him back using the wings.

For the first time in his life, the constant suffocation he felt when he was among his tribe had finally vanished, and the loneliness he always felt had disappeared as he know that he had a place where he belong now. He had found a place where he could always return to, someone he could be himself without worrying about anything. He finally found a home, and that home was wherever his dragon would be.

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

* * *

"Yaaaah!" Astrid yelled as she hit the Nadder's head with the blunt side of her axe, causing the Nadder to yelp in pain and ran off.

"Good job, Astrid." Gobber praised as he wrestled the Nadder back to it's pen, "Hiccup, tell them what they do wrong today, or if they managed to do something right this time".

Hiccup, who was watching the whole training session that day with Gobber, sighed in response. "Fishlegs." He called for the boy's attention, he smiled once the other boy looked at him, "You did good with using the shield to protect yourself this time, and not your arm".

Fishlegs grinned happily, "Yeah!" He cheered, relieved that he didn't make a mistake that day.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut." He looked at the twins with a bored look this time, "You two were great in finding the Nadder's blind spot, but you spoilt your chance by bickering with each other. Late one second to react and you wouldn't be alive now, be more careful".

The twins only shrugged in answer.

"Snotlout." Hiccup began as he looked at his cousin before sighing heavily, "Again with flirting problem, the Nadder even laughed at you".

The twins laughed at that while Astrid smirked in amusement, it's true that the dragon made a noise that sounded as if the Nadder was laughing at Snotlout when the axe that he threw missed by a feet from the Nadder. Snotlout, on the other hand, was glaring daggers at Hiccup. "Do you think you are so good in fighting, huh?" He demanded angrily, "Fight me then! I will show you the difference between me, a true Viking, and you, a toothpick!".

Hiccup looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow, "Astrid normally challenge me into a duel once a month." He stated tonelessly, "If she challenged me again this month, feel free to join and we can fight".

"Now that you mention it, Hiccup." Astrid smirked at Hiccup, "It's time for our monthly duel." She reminded cheekily and confidently, "Why don't we have our duel an hour after lunch? That way I would have enough rest and would be ready for a duel, and I can watch you beat Snotlout's ass after our duel".

"Astrid!" Snotlout gasped in shock, "What are you saying, babe? Are you telling me that Useless will win against me?".

Astrid looked at Snotlout with a scowl, "I said so earlier." She replied in annoyance, "And I'm not your 'babe' ".

"Sure, we will duel in here an hour after lunch." Hiccup answered to Astrid suggestion, "Anyway . . ." He smiled at the girl, "Good job today, Astrid. Your reflex is good and you are strong, keep it up and you will be ready to fight a dragon for real soon enough." _As painful as it is for me_, he added in his mind.

Astrid smirked in satisfaction, she was proud of herself that she could be ready to fight dragon for real soon.

"Alright! That's for today, you can go." Gobber said to the teens, "Hiccup, clean up the arena, and don't forget to feed the dragons. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, don't you dare to skip cleaning the dragon pens again after Hiccup finished feeding them".

The twins groaned, they didn't clean the pens after Hiccup finished the day before, so they were punished to clean the pens for a whole week. "Alright." They said in defeat.

"Sure, Gobber." Hiccup answered as he began carrying the boards Gobber used as a maze for today's training, while the other teens and Gobber headed out of the arena, all but Astrid.

"Let me help you." Astrid offered as she picked up one of the boards.

Hiccup looked at her in surprise before smiling happily, "Thank you." He said before together they brought the boards into a special room where Gobber placed all the stuffs needed for the training. They work in silence, but it was a comfortable one, and not the awkward silence type that he often experienced when he was with his Father. "Okay, this is the last one." Hiccup said before putting the board into the room and closed the door without bothering to lock it, "Thank you for your help, Astrid".

Astrid nodded, "Do you need help with feeding the dragons?" She asked curiously.

"No, I can do it alone." Hiccup answered with a smile.

Astrid nodded again, "Alright, hurry up and feed the dragons so you can join us eating lunch in the Great Hall." She said with a small smile.

Hiccup shook his head, "I'm sorry, but no." He said apologetically, she raised an eyebrow at him, "You know that only you and Fishlegs who will accept me eating together with you guys, so I will just eat by myself".

Astrid frowned, "You don't have to mind them, you know." She said with a bit of disappointment before looking at Hiccup with determination in her eyes, "Don't be late for our duel." She said sternly before walking away.

Hiccup sighed as he watched Astrid go, he wondered what was in the girl's head sometimes, she could go from smiling to scowling in an instant.

Hiccup went to the dock and get the cart with the baskets of fishes for the dragons before heading back to the arena, he quickly feed the dragons, making sure to give Stormfly a nice scratch as an apology for what Astrid done to her, before he went to his house. He picked up a basket filled with fishes from the kitchen, he had gone fishing in the morning before the training, so he could went to the Cove right after he fed the other dragons. He was a bit delayed because he had to clean up the arena, but he still had plenty of time before his duel with Astrid.

"Toothless~!" Hiccup called out happily as he entered the Cove, his Night Fury purred at the sight of him and began walking towards him, "I bring food for you." He said as he put down the basket and pushed it over so the content spilled onto the grassy ground, he took one from the pile and set it aside, "Enjoy it." He said to his dragon before going to gather some logs for a fire, as he tried to light the pile of logs, he was pushed aside by his dragon. "What?" Hiccup asked to no one as he watched his dragon shot a small fire ball into the pile of twigs, "Oh! you made the fire for me." He grinned at his dragon, "Thank you, Toothless".

The name Toothless was actually because the image of his dragon's toothless gums had stuck in his head, he didn't know since when, but he began referring to his dragon as Toothless.

Toothless showed him his toothless smile before returning to his pile of fishes and began eating while Hiccup began cooking his fish. "You know, I have something to call you with but I forgot to tell you my name." He looked at his dragon, "My name is Hiccup." He said with a smile. The Night Fury crooned softly at him as if trying to say his name in his own language before cocking his head to the side, Hiccup chuckled, "Strange name, I know." He agreed, "The Vikings had this believe that hideous name would frighten off gnomes and trolls." He explained before shaking his head, "But I would say their Viking demeanor would do the job better".

Hiccup jumped when he heard the dragon's version of laugh, he looked at the dragon and saw amusement shone in his eyes, he didn't know that his dragon could be so expressive. He smiled at his dragon and began chuckled as well, "Yeah . . ." He said in agreement, "It's silly".

Hiccup ate his cooked fish happily, feeling content to just sat there leaning on his dragon's side while eating his fish, he didn't get this comfortable when he ate with his Dad. During the rare times when his Dad was home and they got to eat together, they would have a short and yet awkward conversation before ending in an awkward silence. With Toothless, the silence was comfortable, they just simply enjoying each other company.

Hiccup was so comfy relaxing beside his dragon that he was reluctant to go, but the sky told him that it was time to go. "I need to go, buddy." He said with a sigh as he stood up before looking at his dragon, "I promised to have a duel with . . . a friend of mine, I guess." He explained when he caught the questioning look of his dragon, "See you tomorrow, Toothless." Toothless purred and nuzzled him at the chest, Hiccup smiled and pat the dragon at the head before jogging out of the Cove then towards the village.

He entered his house and headed for his bedroom where he kept his Wing Blades. Astrid was a master at using her axe to do many things, and if he fought her with his twin rods, he would lose in a matter of seconds. It would be dangerous to lose his title as the best fighter, because then the village would only see him as the clumsy boy who destroyed the village nearly as much as the dragons. He could get banished immediately if he lose the only thing keeping the villagers to throw him out, so there's no way he would duel Astrid without his dual swords, he need them to match with Astrid's strength.

"There he is." Astrid commented as he arrived at the arena, "I thought you lost in the forest".

Hiccup laughed dryly, "Yeah, like I didn't know the forest like the back of my own hand." He muttered sarcastically, more to himself than to the others, as he walked to the spot across from Astrid.

"The rule is the usual." Gobber began as Hiccup and Astrid stood across each other, "You will fight until one of you lose your weapons and had the other's weapon near your neck, the time is not limited and you are forbidden to injure your opponent at their vital spot".

"Are you ready to lose?" Astrid asked Hiccup with a smirk on her face.

Hiccup smirked back as he unsheathed both of his swords, normally it would be unfair if he use both of his swords while Astrid only had one axe, but Astrid insisted that he used both of his swords to make sure that her victory was not because Hiccup wasn't at his best, and got to a battle stance. "That's my line, Astrid." He answered calmly.

Their duel started without waiting for Gobber to announce it, because the second he said those words left his lips, they charged at each other. Astrid swung her axe at him and he blocked it with his two swords for a split second before he darted out of the way.

As strong as his Wing Blades were until they would be able to handle the force of Astrid's axe, it would raise suspicion if such a thin swords like his could stand such a force. The people would questioned him about it until he told them the truth about his swords, and he couldn't let that happen, so he had to avoid clashing his swords against Astrid's axe as much as possible, and if they clashed, it's only for a short time as well.

Astrid had strength and speed on her side, as well as a good maneuverability, while Hiccup was a clumsy boy. If he was a normal boy, he would surely lose to Astrid, but he was never their normal Viking boy. Hiccup might be so clumsy that he could trip on his own feet, but he had a good reflex, speed, agility, and quick wits. They were more than enough to make up with his clumsiness and lack of strength, he could spar with Astrid and any other Vikings just fine.

Hiccup got behind Astrid in a matter of second and launched his own attack, swinging the sword in his right hand horizontally at the height of Astrid's shoulder, with the blunt side of his sword of course.

Another thing that separated Hiccup from the other Vikings was his style of fighting, while Vikings relied on brute strength and attack up front way, Hiccup chose to observe his opponent's weakness and used it for his advantage. Vikings disliked his way of fighting because they saw it as cowardice, relied on stealth like that and attacking from point blank, so even if the Vikings acknowledged his skill in fighting, he was still not accepted among the tribe.

Hiccup couldn't understand it, because as far as he know, the Vikings used his style of fighting when it comes to dragons. He remembered what Gobber said to the teens during their training with Stormfly earlier, the blacksmith had clearly said to find the dragon's blind spot, hide in it, and strike. So what's the difference between the Vikings attacking dragons from their blind spot and him attacking his opponent from their own 'blind spot'?

Astrid already predicted that Hiccup would attack her from behind and swiftly turned around while ducking to evade Hiccup's attack, then she swung the blunt side of her axe to hit Hiccup at the torso. What she didn't expect was for Hiccup to use her own axe to his advantage, using the handle of the axe as a jumping stone and jumped above her head, then he landed gracefully behind her before sending a kick that sent her tumbling forwards.

Hiccup saw his chance as soon as he kicked Astrid, the girl had managed to regain her balance and turned around to face him again. But instead of using the handle of Astrid's axe as a jumping stone, Hiccup snatched the axe from the girl's hand with his right hand and threw it aside while swinging the sword in his left hand, his left hand halted just as the sharp edge of his sword touch the girl's neck harmlessly.

"Hiccup won the duel!" Gobber announced proudly, he was proud that his apprentice had won the match.

"My win again, Astrid." Hiccup said with a victory smirk on his face.

Only in a moment like this allowed him to feel like he could breath among his tribe, when he didn't need to hide behind his sarcastic side and let his face to show his true feelings for all to see.

Astrid huffed and pushed his sword away from her neck, "I was shocked, you're just lucky to catch me off guard." She said calmly before smirking at Hiccup, "I will definitely win the next one".

"You said it last month, you know?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow at the girl.

Astrid scowled in response before smirking again, "Well, at least I got to see you kick Snotlout's ass." She said while motioning at the said boy with her eyes, "Let him know who the boss is".

Hiccup chuckled as he heard the words, "Gladly, Milady." He said with a confident smirk and nodded before raising an eyebrow at Snotlout, completely missing Astrid's slightly blushing face at hearing him calling her 'Milady' before the girl hurriedly to the other teens's side, "Do you still want to duel me?" He asked in challenge.

"Of course!" Snotlout answered before walking to where Astrid previously stood before the match, "I will show you that you are nothing compared to a true Viking like me." He snarled angrily.

_You are going to regret boasting like that when you don't even have an experience of fighting against my fighting style, cousin._ Hiccup thought with an amused smirk, "You are on." He said simply.

"The rules are the same!" Gobber called out to them, "Ready?!" He asked since the match would be different from the one with Astrid, Snotlout wouldn't know when to start without being announced. The two boys got into battle stance, "Fight!".

Snotlout immediately charged at Hiccup and swung his mace, while Hiccup simply moved aside and quickly kick his cousin at the butt, sending the boy face planted on the ground. Snotlout scowled in anger and jumped to his feet before charging at Hiccup again, and again Hiccup simply moved to the side to avoid the attack.

Snotlout was too prideful of himself and often gloated over something small that he managed to do, so Hiccup was using this time to get his cousin know his place, to stop his cousin from gloating over nothing. No one told him that he couldn't enjoy himself while doing it.

"Stop playing around!" Snotlout yelled angrily as he charged at Hiccup again.

Hiccup granted the boy's wish and stopped playing around. In a swift movement, he swung his right hand and hit his cousin's wrist to make the boy drop the mace, then he easily kicked Snotlout from behind the knee, causing his cousin to fall and landed on his back. He then stabbed at the space near Snotlout's neck, "There, I stop playing." He said with a smirk.

"Hiccup won the match!" Gobber announced happily, a big grin on his face.

A loud cheer caught Hiccup's attention, he looked around and noticed that the arena was surrounded by Vikings, by those who were staying behind to protect the village in case a raid happened while the others were out to search the Nest. They might dislike Hiccup's fighting style, but they were still Vikings and Vikings like to watch competition, so they cheered when Hiccup won the duel.

Hiccup smiled at them and raised his hand, "Is there anyone who want to challenge me?" He asked them confidently, earning a cheer from the crowd again, since it would mean they could watch another match or even had a match themselves to kill some boredom.

"I'm in!" Phlegma The Fierce yelled out her challenge.

Hiccup nodded at her and get into his battle stance, he knew that he would likely to fight with many people that day, but he didn't care, it's nice to have the people to not avoiding him once in a while. It's only once a month that he could have such a chance, when Astrid usually challenged him and he won, the day would always changed into a day for the other Vikings to challenge him and they would have a great day together.

It's only once a month that he could feel like he belong among his tribe.

XXXXX

" . . . and with one twist, it took my hand ... and swallowed that whole."

After spending most of the day watching Hiccup sparring with most of the villagers, or having the said matches in Hiccup's case, Gobber invited the teens to have a late dinner together in the newly built watch tower. They had started the dinner with commenting Hiccup's moves earlier, or mocking it in Snotlout's case, before Gobber decided to tell the teens the story of how he lost his hand and leg.

Hiccup wasn't paying attention as he had already heard the story more than he could remember, and each time he heard his mentor told him the story, there would be always a part of the story that was changed.

"I saw the look on it's face, I was delicious." Gobber continued as he swinging around his roasted chicken, "It must have passed the words, because not even a month before another one took my leg." He finished ominously while showing his peg leg.

The teens, aside from Astrid and Hiccup, breathed out an 'Oooh' in awe. Hiccup heard Fishlegs said something that sounded weird and Snotlout sucked up with Gobber saying something along the line of doing something to every dragon he fought with his face, he turned them out and focused in eating his food since he was so tired after fighting against so many people, he was starving.

"Nn-nn!" Gobber tried to protest as wiped his mouth, "It's the wings and tails that you really want, if it can't fly, then it can't fly away." He ripped his one of chicken's wings then waved it towards the teens, "A downed dragon is a dead dragon".

That got Hiccup's attention and he froze in the midst of biting into his fish, strange that he didn't lose his appetite towards fish after eating the fish Toothless regurgitated for him. His mind repeated Gobber's words as his eyes didn't see what was in front of him anymore, what he saw was his Night Fury with his left tail fin ripped off.

A downed dragon is a dead dragon . . .

No tail fin means no flying . . .

No flying means that Toothless was grounded . . .

Grounded means that Toothless was a downed dragon . . .

**A downed dragon is a dead dragon.**

Toothless was a downed dragon, meaning that he was as good as dead, **his dragon was as good as dead!** **_Odin, no!_** Hiccup thought in horror as his face paled drastically, _No, not **my** dragon!_

He looked at the others, they looked excited as they listened to Gobber about how they would slowly made their way towards the Monstrous Nightmare, he couldn't care less about it at the moment as he silently made his way out of the tower and ran as fast as he could to the forge.

No one even noticed his absence, no one . . . that's if you didn't include Astrid, who noticed his empty spot and walked to the stairs just in time to see the end of Hiccup's right boot disappearing around the corner. _Where is he going in such a hurry?_ Astrid thought to herself in confusion.

XXXXX

Hiccup placed his book on top of his desk in his personal work space and opened his book where he had drawn Toothless, the one he made to figure out the reason why his dragon couldn't fly out of the Cove, then he draw the left tail fin with a serious look on his face.

"I was the one who made the thing that caused you to lose your tail fin, Toothless." He breathed softly to himself as he stared at the newly drawn left tail fin on his book, "I will be the one who give it back to you, I will let you fly again." He vowed to himself and nodded his head in determination, "I won't let my dragon to die".

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

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"Finally, it's done!" Hiccup said in triumph as he looked at his latest invention, the left tail fin for Toothless. He had worked for a long time, considering it's the first time he made a dragon's tail fin, and by the time he finished, it's already morning.

"What is done?" Hiccup jumped when he heard Astrid's voice rang out so suddenly, he immediately closed the tail fin and turned around to face the Viking girl, "What is it, Hiccup?" Astrid asked curiously as she eyed the tail fin.

"Uh, no- nothing, just- just an experiment." Hiccup answered nervously.

Astrid narrowed her eyes, "Hiccup, you're stuttering." She stated calmly as she looked straight at Hiccup's eyes, "You only do that when you are nervous or trying to hide something, so, what is it? And don't you dare to lie".

Hiccup bit his lower lip and looked away from her, "Why would you want to know?" He asked instead.

"Just curious." Astrid said with a sigh as she entered the room before looking at the blueprint behind Hiccup, "I don't know what you are planning to do, but I have a feeling that it had something to do with a dragon that no one ever seen, aside from you of course".

Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise, "Where do you get such an idea?" He asked nervously and with a bit of fear.

Astrid merely looked at Hiccup with a raised eyebrow and pointed at Hiccup's book, which was opened on the page where he draw Toothless, causing Hiccup to gasp in shock, he couldn't believe that he forgot to close the book. "I couldn't recognize it as one of the dragons in Dragon Manual, and the only one I have yet to see is the Night Fury due to the fact that there's so little information about Night Fury in the book." She explained as she touched the drawing, her index finger then tapped softly on the left tail fin, "You had erased the part on the left tail fin, but then you re-draw it." She looked at Hiccup straight in the eyes, "I'm guessing that this dragon is injured and you are helping it".

Blood drained from Hiccup's face, he looked at Astrid with horrified expression and his hands trembled. "A- Astrid . . ." He began fearfully, "Please. Please don't tell anyone, they will banish me." He pleaded as he put the tail fin on the desk.

"It's true then?" Astrid asked softly in surprise, Hiccup nodded in defeat, "You are aware that you are betraying your own tribe, right?".

"Yes." Hiccup said with a sigh, "It doesn't really matter though, sooner or later, I would get banished from Berk eventually since I refused to kill dragons. I don't really care, I have made some preparation in case I really get banished, but I couldn't get banished now, I still need to use the forge".

Astrid's eyebrows shot up and she looked at Hiccup with wide eyes, she would never think that Hiccup had prepared himself for banishment, let alone accepted it so easily. If she heard right, what Hiccup implying was that he only need some time to finish whatever he need to do in the forge and he wouldn't care even if she told everyone about his betrayal.

She looked straight at Hiccup's eyes and she could see determination in there, with a bit of fear hidden beneath it. She remembered that expression, she had seen that look on Hiccup's face when he denied Stoick the Vast in front of the whole village, the day he firmly stated that he refused to kill any dragon unless it's the only thing he could do to survive.

Astrid, just like any other girls in Berk, had learned how to be a tough girl just like the Vikings in her village. She wasn't supposed to show any sympathy towards someone who refused to kill dragons, but she couldn't bring herself to be cold at Hiccup like the other teens, minus Fishlegs of course. She didn't know nor understand why Hiccup refused to kill dragons, no one in the village did, not even Hiccup's own father . . . but unlike the rest, Astrid respected Hiccup's decision.

She inhaled deeply. She had admired Hiccup for his fighting skill and smart brain, something that was rare in a village full of Vikings, and she had seen trait in the boy that would make him a great Chief in the future. She didn't know why, but she found herself couldn't stomach the thought of Hiccup getting banished from Berk, so she might as well come clear with the reason why Hiccup refused to kill dragons.

"A year ago . . ." Astrid began softly, surprising Hiccup since they had been silent for a long time, "I saw you fought against a Monstrous Nightmare. I was on my way to try and put down the fire in the village when I heard an explosion from the forge." She smiled at Hiccup's shocked expression, "I see that you remembered that day".

Hiccup nodded, he could remember that day as if it's only the day before, "Gobber was out helping the others fighting dragons and I was in charge of the forge." He said as the memory being played in his mind once again, "A Viking was stupid enough to try and fight a Nightmare alone, I saw the Viking threw a bola at the Nightmare from the window." He sighed and shook his head, "The Nightmare simply burned the bola and attacked the Viking, it's not a long time before the Viking nearly got himself killed by the Nightmare".

"And you came to the rescue." Astrid continued for Hiccup, "The Viking was unconscious by then, so he didn't know what happened that night and you lied by saying that the Nightmare lost interest because it saw a sheep, never mind the fact that all the sheep were with Spitelout and Hoark at the time." She chuckled as Hiccup blushed in response to her words, "I figured that you didn't want to get more pressured to kill dragons, so I keep it a secret that you were the one who fought the Nightmare using your newly made twin rods. If I remember it correctly, you fought neck to neck with the dragon until it had to retreat along with the other dragons".

Hiccup nodded in confirmation, "Yes, we did." He then looked at Astrid with a raised eyebrow, "Why are you telling me this now though?".

Astrid carefully moved the stuffs on Hiccup's desk aside until she had a space where she could sit on, then sat on the desk and motioned for Hiccup to sit on the chair in front of her. "I told you about it because I want to know the real reason why you refused to kill dragons." She said with a soft voice that she rarely used, "We were friends, Hiccup, and we are still friends now, even though we aren't as close as before when we were 5 years old brats." She looked at Hiccup seriously, "I won't tell anyone about this, I will keep it a secret for you. So please, Hiccup, tell me".

Hiccup couldn't believe his ears, he always thought that all Astrid want was to be a Shield Maiden and to kill dragons so she could regain her family's honor, but here his crush promised to keep his secret and pleaded for him to tell her. _It's turn out that I was wrong when I thought no one care about me aside from Gobber in here_, he thought as he smiled softly at the girl he has a crush since he was so small. Astrid had taken a leap of faith by saying that she would keep his 'betrayal' a secret, so it would only fair if he did the same.

"Alright, I will tell you everything." Hiccup said with a smile, earning a smile from Astrid as well, "You remember Gobber told you that dragons would always go for the kill, right?" Astrid nodded in answer, "It's wrong." He stated firmly as he locked gaze with Astrid, "If it's like what Gobber said then I would die 8 years ago, and many other times when I came across with a dragon alone in the forest".

"What happened 8 years ago?" Astrid asked curiously, "Something had happened, I assume, something that changed your believe about dragons".

"You are right." Hiccup confirmed, "Around 8 years ago was the day I found out that dragons aren't what Vikings believe they are." He inhaled deeply and prepared himself to tell Astrid everything, "8 years ago was the day I was saved by a Night Fury, my Night Fury".

Hiccup then told Astrid everything. About his experience with Toothless 8 years ago, his decision to sneak into the training ring at night to get to know the dragons and sneaked them treat since the dragons was poorly cared, about the time he finally collected enough of Toothless's scales to make his Wing Blades with Stormfly's help, and then continued to that fateful night when Gobber accidentally shot his Night Fury with Mangler, how he had immediately went to the woods to free Toothless, and how he found out that Toothless had trapped in the Cove due to his left tail fin ripped apart from the fall.

"Gobber said that a downed dragon is a dead dragon." Hiccup said sadly as he was feeling guilty again, "I don't want that, I would rather die myself than letting my dragon to die. He was always watching over me, protecting me from the other dragons during a raid, be there for me when I was alone in the woods. He might never show himself before, but I knew he was there and I could felt his presence so I wouldn't feel lonely." He covered his face as his eyes began blurring from tears, he didn't want for Astrid to see him cry, "Everyone in the village avoiding me, only you, Gobber, and Fishlegs who didn't treat me with cold shoulders, even my own Dad always see me as a disappointment for refusing to kill dragons. When I couldn't stand it anymore and need some time alone, I would always go to the forest so I could let it out and be myself, and Toothless would always be there for me, his presence always calmed me like a brother that I don't have".

Astrid looked at Hiccup sadly, she felt bad that she didn't try to treat him more friendly before now, what kind of friend was she if she didn't even know that her friend was suffering?

"I care for him, Astrid, I love him like my own brother." Hiccup continued with watery voice, "It's all my fault that he lose his tail fin, it's my fault. If only I didn't create Mangler, he would still be up there in the sky, free and not grounded. A downed dragon is a dead dragon, I know that it's true, and Toothless will die if I don't help him. I can't let that happen, ever, I don't want to lose him. I would never forgive myself if he die or get hurt because of me".

Astrid hesitated only a split second before she pulled Hiccup to her arms into a gentle embrace, "It's alright, you will get him back to the sky again, I know you will." She said as she rubbed his back, "Be strong, Hiccup, be strong so you can protect him".

Hiccup took a few deep breath to regain his composure and wiped his tears, he smiled at Astrid and nodded, "Yeah, I will get him back to the sky again." He agreed, "Thank you, for listening to me and for keeping this a secret for me, for me and Toothless".

"What are friends for?" Astrid asked simply with a shrug, but she failed to hide the faint blush on her face. She cleared her throat, "I would like to meet him, your dragon".

Hiccup grinned, "Sure." He said in agreement, "Just in time too. I'm going to go to the Cove to bring him food and try out the new tail fin".

"Is that it?" Astrid asked as she looked at Hiccup's latest invention.

Hiccup nodded, "Yeah, I made it earlier." He explained as he stood up, "Could you help me get some fishes from the storage? I didn't have the time to go fishing today, so I think we can borrow some from the storage and then returned it bit by bit." He said with a grin.

Astrid snorted, "Oh come on, it's not like a few fishes missing would mean much." She said as she get down from the desk.

"Not only a few, Astrid, a whole basket." Hiccup reminded her, "Toothless is a dragon, he eat more than us".

"Right." Astrid said with a sheepish look, "So I will go and get the fishes, what are you going to do and where are we going to meet up?".

"I need to get the tail fin to the woods without anyone noticing, and carrying a basket filled with fishes while carrying the tail fin would be very noticeable." Hiccup explained to her, "You only need to bring the fishes to the forest behind my house, I will carry them the rest of the way so we could get to the Cove faster, we need to move fast if we want to get to dragon training in time".

"What are we waiting for then?" Astrid asked with a grin, "I'm going to get the fishes!" She said before running out of the forge.

Hiccup smiled and shook his head, "As energetic as ever, that girl." He said to himself before going out of the forge himself, the tail fin in hands and his book in his pocket, the blueprint had been safely hidden in his desk's drawer.

Hiccup and Astrid met up at the woods behind Hiccup's house, they then walked together to the Cove after Hiccup took the basket from Astrid and Astrid helped Hiccup carrying the tail fin.

"Oh, before I forget." Hiccup turned to look at Astrid at the entrance of the Cove, "Are you carrying any weapon with you?" Astrid raised her axe in answer, "Leave it here".

"Why?" Astrid asked in confusion, but she did as she was told.

"Toothless would be very cautious of you if you carry your axe the first time you meet him." Hiccup explained, "The best way to gain a dragon's trust is to approach them weaponless, they wouldn't feel threatened and would give you a chance to approach them instead of attacking you right away".

"I see." Astrid said in understanding as they began walking again, "But you are carrying your swords with you".

"Yeah, I forgot to leave them at the house, but it doesn't matter since it's me." Hiccup shrugged, "The first time I came here with a dagger, Toothless's instinct made him acting cautious around me. I figured that he was very hungry at the time, so he didn't really recognize me until he ate one of the fishes I bought with me. When I was going back, I took the dagger back from the pond where I kicked it, he didn't mind it at all." He smiled at Astrid, "Just like how I care about him, he care about me, he doesn't care if I bring weapon with me since he knows that I would never harm him intentionally. In your case though, this is your first meeting with Toothless, so it would be best that you don't have any weapon with you".

"Because he doesn't trust me?" Astrid guessed, Hiccup nodded in answer, "I guess it's fair enough, but I'm a bit worried that he would attack me".

"He won't, I promise." Hiccup said before they entered the Cove, "Toothless! Come out, bud. There's someone I want you to meet!" He called out as he looked around the Cove for his dragon.

Astrid followed Hiccup's example and was looking around when she heard a soft growl behind her, she turned around and gasped in surprise when she come face to face with a big black dragon with forest green eyes.

"Ah, there you are." Hiccup, who heard Astrid's gasp, turned around and saw his dragon was staring curiously at Astrid, "You just like to surprise people, aren't you?" He asked with a chuckle, "Well, Astrid, this is Toothless, the Night Fury I told you about." Hiccup began to introduce them, "And Toothless." He motioned at Astrid as he looked at his dragon, "This is Astrid, my friend".

Toothless softly cooed at her and began moving to her, Astrid tensed and took a step back but Hiccup stopped her, "It's alright." Hiccup said softly as he took her hand, "He won't hurt you unless you hurt him first." He reassured her as he slowly brought her hand to the front of Toothless nostril, then slowly released Astrid's hand as Toothless began sniffing her hand.

Astrid held her breath as she watched the dragon sniffed her hand, she wondered what could Toothless tell by sniffing her hand when the dragon touched her palm with his head for a mere second before snorting at her and left her for Hiccup.

Hiccup chuckled and patted Toothless's head gently, "He accepted you as a friend, but he is still being cautious with you." He explained to Astrid's confused expression, "Don't worry, with time, I'm sure you both would be great friends".

Astrid nodded and smiled in agreement, "Yeah, I agree." She said before her eyes took a good look at the dragon in front of her, "So, is this what a Night Fury looks like?" She asked to no one in particular, from what she could see, the black dragon was more like a bat than a bird like in the case of the Nightmares or Nadders. "For a dragon with such a reputation, he sure is small." She couldn't help but commented, but then yelped when the said dragon narrowed his eyes at her and growled warningly.

Hiccup laughed, "Careful, Astrid." He said teasingly as he grinned at Toothless, "Toothless has a huge ego, calling him small might injure it." Toothless smacked him using his tail in response, earning a chuckle from Hiccup, "See?" He asked Astrid and ducked before Toothless could smack him again for that.

Astrid was awe struck, even though she had heard the story, witnessing Hiccup and Toothless's bond with her own eyes wasn't the same like hearing it. She was a bit doubtful that a dragon could show such compassion like what Hiccup told her, but now that she saw it with her own eyes, she couldn't help but believed it.

"Oh, right. We brought you breakfast, buddy." Hiccup said as he put the basket he carried down and tipped it over, "What do we got here, Astrid?" He asked curiously as he looked at the pile of fishes.

"I didn't want to risk being found out, so I took whatever in my sight." Astrid answered, "But I remember there's some Salmon, some nice Icelandic Cod, and a whole smoke eel".

Toothless, who was moving some fishes with his head when Astrid answered, moved back slowly with a growl.

Astrid blinked, "Huh? What's wrong?" She asked as she was confused with the dragon's sudden change in behavior.

"You said eel?" Hiccup asked as he began searching through the pile for the said eel, he found it and pulled it out from the pile, causing Toothless to jump back with a roar. "No, no!" Hiccup gasped before throwing the eel away from his dragon, "It's okay." He soothed as he raised a hand to Toothless to get him to calm down, "It's okay." Toothless sniffed at Hiccup's hand once before snorting and moved his attention to the pile of fishes, "Yeah, I don't like eel much either".

"Dragons don't like eels?" Astrid asked with interest.

"Yeah, as far as I know, all dragons hate eels." Hiccup informed her before leaning to whisper to her, "Scratch his head while he eat, distract him, I'm going to attach the tail fin now".

Astrid nodded and knelt down near Toothless's head, "Sorry about the eel." She didn't know why, but she apologized to the dragon, as absurd as it sounded. After that, she began scratching Toothless gently at the back of his head, earning a happy purr from the dragon while he ate, while her eyes looked at Hiccup who slowly walked to Toothless's tail.

Hiccup got close to the dragon's tail and carefully get the prosthetic tail fin near Toothless's tail, only for the Dragon to move his tail away. Hiccup blinked, he looked at Toothless and Astrid to see that Toothless was still happily eating his breakfast while Astrid still scratching Toothless's head. He shrugged and moved the tail fin again, only to have the same result before the tail moved up and down.

Hiccup growled softly and sat on the tail to prevent any other movement and quickly, once he finished fastening the buckle, he smiled. "I think this will work." He said to himself as he looked at his latest creation, "I just need to see if this tail fin will be enough for Toothless to fly again".

Astrid looked up when she heard Hiccup's words before noticing that Toothless's jaw had dropped, she looked at Hiccup with an uneasy smile, "You're going to get your wish, Hiccup." She said as a warning for the boy, she stepped back to get out of the way when Toothless unfolded his wings.

"What?" Hiccup looked behind him to ask Astrid what she mean by that, but before he could even said another word, he found himself screaming while tightly holding his dragon's tail.

Astrid watched in awe as she saw Toothless took off, although she was a bit worried about Hiccup, she couldn't help but wondering what it feels to fly.

Hiccup wasn't as calm as Astrid, his heart was beating so fast that he thought it would break his ribs. Having to cling tightly on his dragon's tail was scary enough, but to notice that his dragon was falling and they were going to crash? He swallowed his fear and opened the tail fin with his hand, since he noticed that the tail fin was closing against the wind instead of opened like Toothless's real fin, he soon found himself grinning in excitement when he felt Toothless didn't fall anymore and began to fly again.

"Yes! It's working!" Astrid could hear Hiccup's triumphant cry and had to smile, at least now Hiccup would be less worried about Toothless, with Toothless being able to fly again. She watched as Toothless turned around to fly over the lake, "Yes! Yes, I did it!" She heard Hiccup cried in triumph again and chuckled, but her chuckle died when she saw Toothless looking back at Hiccup and widened his eyes in shock and fear. She was confused, she could understand the shock, but why fear?

Toothless, as much as he was bittersweet with that name, he still cherished it for it was the name his hatchling gave him even though he disliked the meaning of his new name, looked back when he heard his hatchling's voice. His eyes widened in shock and fear when he saw his hatchling brother clinging on his tail, he wondered what in the world going on in his Hiccup's mind to make him did something like clinging to a flying dragon's tail, it's very dangerous!

He looked up and cursed when he noticed how close to the rock wall he was before taking a sharp turn to avoid a crash, he felt Hiccup's weight left his tail and looked down to see his hatchling brother fell into the lake. He sighed in relief, at least his hatchling was safe now, but then his relief turned into dread when he felt that his tail wasn't in balance again. He looked back and saw that there's a contraption on the left side of his tail fin, but the thing was fluttering uselessly at the moment, he cried out in annoyance as he fell into the lake as well.

"Yeah!" He heard his hatchling's cry of excitement not long after, he broke to the surface and saw that Hiccup was swimming to the shore, so he swam to him and picked him at the back of his vest with his jaws before swimming to the shore so they could get out of the lake faster. He put his hatchling back onto his feet before shaking the water off of his scales, his hatchling laughed when some water droplets hit him before grinning widely, "I did it!" Hiccup exclaimed excitedly as he threw his arms around Toothless's neck, "The tail fin works! You can get back to the sky again!".

Toothless crooned softly in agreement, although he wanted to remind his hatchling that he need Hiccup to fly since he couldn't control the new tail fin, it's too bad that his hatchling couldn't understand him. Fortunately, his hatchling was so smart that he was sure his hatchling would already know it, so he just enjoyed the feeling of his hatchling on his scales, so light and gentle like a feather and yet warm like the sun.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called out with a grin as she ran to the pair of dragon and boy, "You did it!" She said excitedly.

"Yeah! I did it!" Hiccup said excitedly as well as he released Toothless to look at Astrid, "I did it, I help him fly again".

Astrid grinned and pulled Hiccup into a hug without thinking, "I was worried, you nearly crashed into the wall earlier." She said honestly before pulling back, only then that she noticed their position and Hiccup's shocked expression, she blushed in embarrassment, "Sorry." She said in whisper as she released him.

"It's . . . okay, I guess." Hiccup said in whisper as well, his face was blushing hard as he couldn't believe that Astrid has just hugged him.

The last time Astrid hug him was to comfort him when he was having a break down, again, because he was consumed by his guilt, but now? He was sure that Astrid wasn't the type to hug people to congratulate them, so he didn't know why Astrid would hug him just now.

Astrid cleared her throat, "Um, let's get out of here." She said as she turned her face away from Hiccup to hide her blush, "We need to go now or we are going to be late".

"Yeah." Hiccup said in agreement as he also looking away, "But I think you need to go first, people would get suspicious if they see us walking out of the forest together".

"You're right." He heard Astrid answered him before hearing the girl jogged out of the Cove.

He sighed and buried his face on his dragon's scaly neck, "Oh, Toothless." He muttered softly, "It's so hard acting casual in front of the girl whom you like".

He felt Toothless shaking his head before letting out a croon that had a teasing tone in it, he pulled away and looked at Toothless's face to see his dragon looking at him with knowing and yet mischievous eyes.

He pouted, "What are you looking at?" He asked accusingly, only earning a chuckle from his dragon brother, he pouted even more, "Not helping." He muttered sulkily, which only served to amuse Toothless even more.

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

* * *

"Today! . . . is about teamwork." Gobber said as the whole arena filled with green gas, "Now, a wet dragon head can't light it's fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky, one head breathe gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to find out which is which".

Hiccup scowled in anger as he hold a bucket filled with water, he was back to back with Fishlegs at the moment, and he was in a very bad mood because, well . . . The teens were supposed to train with a Zippleback today, which required for them to go in pair while there were only 5 of them. Snotlout was paired up with Tuffnut since they were good when working with each other, which was the opposite of if Tuffnut was paired with Ruffnut, that would only result in them fighting against each other instead of working together. Besides, Ruffnut was paired with Astrid since they were both girls. That leaves Fishlegs alone, and there's no way Gobber would let Fishlegs to be alone in this training since they need to be in pair, so Hiccup was forced to be paired up with Fishlegs.

It's not that Hiccup disliked working together with Fishlegs, the boy was nice and kind to him and never mocking him like Snotlout and Tuffnut, he even found Fishlegs's habit to ramble dragon status to be amusing. No, it's the fact that he was forced to take a part in dragon training that caused him to scowl in anger. He could stand it that he was forced to help Gobber to train the teens, because he didn't have to fight with the dragons, but to be forced to be in the training with the teens was downright irritating until he want to just go out there and dragged the first Viking he saw into the arena, so the Viking could be paired up with Fishlegs instead of him.

He really wondered why he didn't do just that . . . oh right, because Gobber said that this was a training for the inexperience teens, not for experienced Vikings. Even though he had fought a Nightmare in the past, no one know about it aside from Astrid, so he was counted as inexperienced. He had thought to tell Gobber about it with Astrid to back up his statement, but then he remembered the reason why he hid that incident in the first place, so he could only shut up and reluctantly did as Gobber told him to do, working together with Fishlegs.

"Razor sharp teeth, inject venom for predigestion . . ." Hiccup heard Fishlegs whispered what he know of Zippleback's status and his eyes narrowed as his blood boiled even more, he was so angry that he didn't find it as amusing as usual.

"Can you please stop that?" Hiccup asked him with a dangerous hiss, causing Fishlegs to jump with a startled squeak, "I'm not in the mood at the moment, Fishlegs." He said through gritted teeth before continuing to scowl at the green gas surrounding them.

"Sorry." Fishlegs squeaked nervously as fear crept in into his heart, he was more afraid of Hiccup than the Zippleback at the moment.

Fishlegs didn't want to be the receiving end of Hiccup's anger, it's like having to face Astrid's wrath, very scary, extremely dangerous, and definitely deadly. Hiccup being angry was like when Astrid being furious, and he didn't dare to imagine what would happen if Hiccup snapped and became furious. Gods forbid, he might be as dangerous as a Monstrous Nightmare and as destructive as a Night Fury if that happened, his speed and fighting skill were not a joke! That's why he was very grateful at the Gods for making Hiccup to be a very patient person, so the boy was rarely angered.

Ruffnut chuckled softly, "Fishlegs is scared of Fishbone, talk about being ridiculous." She whispered in amusement as she looked around for any sign of dragon.

"You can't blame him." Astrid said in a low whisper as she looked around as well, "Hiccup is angry right now and he's as scary as Hella herself when he is angry, even **_I_** don't want to be the receiving end of his anger. I hate it that Gobber forced him to take part in this training, he knows that Hiccup absolutely hate it".

"I know." Ruffnut nodded her head in agreement as she remembered Hiccup's pissed off expression when Gobber announced that Hiccup would be paired up with Fishlegs, if looks could kill, Gobber would be in Valhalla right now. "But you and Fishlegs are his close friends, there's no way he would direct his anger at any of you." She reminded her friend.

"Not intentionally, but that doesn't close the possibility." Astrid countered before yelping when she suddenly drenched from head to toe, "What the hell!".

"Hey!" Ruffnut cried out in indignation when she also get drenched, she saw the culprits and growled in anger, "It's us, Idiots!".

"Your butt's getting bigger, we thought you were a dragon." Tuffnut said with a chuckle.

"It's not like there's anything wrong with dragonesque fig-." Snotlout tried to get into Astrid's good side after he saw how pissed the girl was.

Astrid's opinion of dragon's figure had changed from ugly and monstrous to beautiful and majestic after she met Toothless and saw the true nature of dragons when they weren't in a raid, so she didn't really mind being called having a dragonesque figure since that would mean she looked beautiful and majestic. What pissed her off was the fact that Snotlout tried to flirt with her after drenching her with cold water, so much that she punched him at the jaw before the boy could complete his sentence.

Ruffnut was also pissed off at her brother that she threw her bucket at Tuffnut's face.

Hiccup's eyebrow twitched as his anger deepened when he heard the commotion, he just know that Ruffnut and Tuffnut were bickering while Snotlout tried to flirt with Astrid, again. After feeding the dragons for a year and had known of both Barf and Belch for more than three months, he had gotten used with their habit to trick people to scare them, so he know that the two headed dragon would use the commotion the 4 teens made to their advantage. So he was not disappointed nor surprised when Tuffnut ran passed him and Fishlegs while exclaiming that he was 'very much hurt', he merely sighed and waited for Barf and Belch to direct their attention to him and Fishlegs, he know that the Zippleback wouldn't hurt him once they recognized him, so he would use that opportunity to get himself out of the training.

"Our chance of survival has dropped into a single digit now." Fishlegs said nervously.

Hiccup snorted softly to himself when he heard that, he didn't care about their chance of survival, he didn't even have any intention to 'survive' this training. He then noticed one of the Zippleback's head came out of the smoke and was heading towards them while sniffing the air, the head, which he figured to be Barf, looked at him for a split second before simply turning it's attention to Fishlegs.

Fishlegs got scared when the head approached him and threw his water at the head by reflex.

Barf let out an amused chuckle since he managed to trick Fishlegs to throw his water before purposefully scaring the boy by spraying green gas at the boy's face, causing Fishlegs to run away while screaming in high pitch like a girl. Belch then joined Barf and their pupils dilated as they looked at Hiccup, they had heard Hiccup's protest when he was told to take a part in the training, they also could smell the anger and annoyance radiated from the boy, so they know that the boy didn't want to be there at all and interested in what the boy would do now.

Hiccup knew that Barf and Belch recognized him when their pupils dilated to appear non-aggressive, they were waiting for him to do something, he also well aware that the other teens were watching him along with Gobber at the moment, so he raised his bucket of water. "Trip me." He whispered to the dragon, knowing that they would be able to hear him with their sharper hearing, and secretly winked at them.

Barf and Belch caught his intention and immediately used their tail to trip Hiccup just as he began to throw his water, causing for him to fell on the floor and his water to miss them by inches.

"Hiccup!" Astrid ran to the boy as soon as she saw him tripped and stood in front of the fallen boy, ready to defend her friend from the two headed dragon, bare handed if needed.

"Astrid." Hiccup whispered to her as he stood up, so that the others wouldn't hear him, "What are you doing?".

"Protecting you, obviously." Astrid whispered back before noticing how the two heads of the Zippleback sniffed at her then backed away, she smirked as her plan succeed. "Back." She ordered calmly as she stepped forward, the dragon stepped back as she did so. She told the dragon to get back as she walked to their direction with her hand stretched out in front of her, "Don't make me tell you again." She said as they were mere feet from the cage, "Yes, that's right, back to your cage." The dragon backed off to their cage and she smirked at them, "Now, think about what you've done." She said in triumph before closing the door, she turned around and was greeted with the most hilarious sight she had ever seen.

Hiccup was looking at her with wide eyes filled with amusement, any trace of anger that were in the boy's eyes earlier had disappeared, she bet that the boy had guessed what her trick was already. Gobber and the rest, on the other hand, were looking at her with wide eyes filled with shock and their mouth gaping like a fish on the land, Fishlegs even dropped the bucket that he was holding.

"So, are we done?" She asked as she held back a laugh, "Well then, see you later." She then walked out of the arena as fast as she could before running to the forest, she stopped running once she was far enough from the rest. Their shocked expression flashed in front of her eyes and she burst out laughing, her left hand was on her stomach and her right hand was gripping a nearby tree so she wouldn't fall.

Hiccup's laughter reached her ear and she looked behind her to see Hiccup in the same position as her, "Man, did you see their faces?" He asked her once they managed to control their laughter.

"They were like gaping fishes on land." Astrid said in agreement as she chuckled again at the memory, "Even Gobber".

Hiccup shook his head before leaning on a tree and inhaled deeply, "Did you hide an eel under your shirt or something?" He asked curiously.

"I don't have a place to hide an eel, Hiccup, and I refused to feel that disgusting creature against my skin, so no, I didn't." Astrid snorted at the idea of hiding an eel under her shirt, "Considering that Toothless had reacted like that at the mere mention of an eel, I figured that their smell alone is enough to scare off a dragon, so I rubbed an eel on my whole hands before coming here".

"I see." Hiccup said with a nod of understanding, "Clever move." He praised the girl, earning a smile from her..

They fell into silence after that, just enjoying the calmness while occasionally chuckled when they remembered the other's expression after Astrid forced a Zippleback to back off with her bare hands. Finally, Astrid broke the silence, "What are you going to do now?" She asked as she looked at Hiccup, "Are we going to visit Toothless?".

Hiccup shook his head, "Nah, I need to make something first." He answered with a smile as he leaned away from the tree, "We will visit him tomorrow".

Astrid's eyes brightened as she matched her step with Hiccup, "What are you going to make now? Something to help Toothless?" She asked with interest.

"Yeah, I'm going to make a saddle." Hiccup answered as they walked to the forge, "In order for Toothless to fly again, I need to control the tail fin for him, but there's no way I will keep hanging on his tail like earlier".

"It's dangerous and definitely scary." Astrid nodded in understanding before looking at him, "Is there something that I can do to help you with this project?" She asked with a smile.

Hiccup looked at Astrid in surprise before smiling happily, "Can you sew?" He asked curiously, Astrid nodded in answer, "Good, you can help me with sewing the leather".

"Okay, I will meet you in the forge." Astrid said as she started to walk away, "I need to wash my hands and get rid of the smell from the eel first." She waved at him before running to her home.

Hiccup watched Astrid go with a smile before heading for his own home.

And so, with Astrid's help, Hiccup made a saddle so he could help controlling Toothless's tail fin. When Hiccup showed Toothless the saddle though, the dragon wouldn't let Hiccup put the saddle on right away, the mighty dragon was in the mood to play tag with Hiccup. Hiccup didn't have any choice but to run after Toothless with the saddle in his hands above his head, all the while, Astrid was simply watching the whole scene happened and laughed at Hiccup's failed attempts to catch Toothless.

Toothless then finally let Hiccup put the saddle on and they tried to fly with Hiccup opened the tail fin with his hand through a rope, but Hiccup pulled the rope too hard and they crash landed onto the hard ground, thankfully both of them was unharmed. Thinking that it would be better if Hiccup wore something to keep him from falling off of Toothless in midflight, Hiccup made a safety harness with Astrid help and making sure that the harness will hold against a strong force.

The next day, Gobber gave the teens a day off, since Astrid managed to win the first few rounds of Dragon Training, so the teens would have a chance to train on their own and win the next one, after they done their morning training. After the morning training, Hiccup told Astrid to go to the Cove first because he need to feed the dragons in the arena, so Astrid went to the Cove after she picked up the basket of fishes from Hiccup's backdoor.

While waiting for Hiccup, Astrid decided to try and operate Toothless's tail fin so they could save some time, as she did so, she also tried to fly with the rope tied around her ankle instead of being held in her hand. She and Toothless flew farther than when Hiccup tried the day before, but it's still hard to control the tail fin with a mere rope, so they ended up crash landing into a field of grass, and the safety harness that she tried couldn't keep her from falling away from Toothless.

Astrid thought that they were just grass, so she was surprised when she saw Toothless happily rolling around on them. They returned to the Cove later and saw Hiccup already there, Astrid told Hiccup about the grass and that it's easier to control the tail fin with the rope tied around their ankle instead of being held in their hand. They spend the rest of the day in the Cove, Hiccup would try to get the hang of controlling Toothless's tail fin while Astrid would observing their flight, so they could discuss what improvement needed to be made later.

When it's time for Astrid to fight Meatlug again in Dragon Training, she used the grass she found the day before to see if the grass had the same effect to the other dragons with the Night Fury. Turned out that Meatlug was affected as well, so she won the Dragon Training, with what looked like a single punch from the other teen's perspective.

They went to the Cove after Astrid escaped from her friends who kept on praising her, only to see that Toothless was having a hard time scratching on his scales against some rock. Hiccup and Astrid helped Toothless scratching his itching scales, then Hiccup accidentally touch a pressure point when he wanted to scratch Toothless's chin, causing for Toothless to fell over with an expression of pure bliss. Having nothing else to do since Toothless was sleeping, which mean they couldn't try to fly again, Astrid asked Hiccup to have a spar with her to keep their skill sharp, which he gladly accept.

Astrid had to face Stormfly again, but unlike last time, she didn't hit Stormfly with her axe. It happened when Snotlout try to attack the Nadder since he thought that Astrid was cornered, Astrid merely used the distraction to scratch Stormfly's chin until she found the pressure point and made Stormfly fell unconscious in bliss.

The night comes, Astrid and Hiccup had just returned from the Cove and went to eat in the Great Hall. Upon seeing the other teens were there as well, Hiccup went to sit on his usual place on the table next to them, Astrid then sit beside Hiccup to keep him company. They were surprised when the other teens moved to their table to ask questions to Astrid, even the adults were also crowding their table to congratulate her. Their dinner couldn't be more awkward.

Gobber cancelled the training that day, saying that he need to help out Bucket and Mulch with fishing, but Hiccup knew that Gobber was just bored and wanted to do something new. Hiccup and Astrid agreed to use this opportunity to get some flying exercise with Toothless, well, Hiccup flew with Toothless while Astrid observing as usual. They flew and kept crashing, leading Hiccup to say that they won't flying until he figure out how to get the tail fin work, so they just hanging around the Cove together for the rest of the day.

They chatted while Astrid trained with her axe and Hiccup fixed his harness, all the while ignoring Toothless who ran around the Cove, thinking that the dragon just wanted to train his running. It was later when Toothless tackle Astrid to the ground that they found out the reason why Toothless running around like that, he was chasing the light that was reflected from Astrid's axe. Astrid then moved her axe around to get Toothless to chase the light again, laughing with Hiccup all the time. That day was great for the both of them and they got a good laugh, unfortunately, Toothless didn't happy because he spent hours chasing a mere light, he punished them by throwing them into the pond.

"Meet the Terrible Terror!" Gobber said cheerfully as he lowered the lever and released the dragon.

Hiccup watched in amusement as he saw the teens stared at the small dragon, he was sure that they were wondering why such a small dragon got a name as something 'terrible', and then chuckled when Sharpshot attacked Tuffnut by biting on his nose, cutting whatever the boy wanted to say.

Astrid was amused as well, but she had had enough of hearing Tuffnut saying that he was 'very much hurt', so she used the light trick, by reflecting the sunlight using her axe, to get the green Terror back into his cage.

"Wow, Astrid, you are awesome." Snotlout praised her as soon as she got the Terror back to his cage, no doubt trying to get Astrid to like him.

Astrid sighed in annoyance and waved him away, "Give up, Snot, I'm not interested to be your girlfriend." She said dismissively as she walked away, trying to get away before she got surrounded by her fans again.

Snotlout didn't catch the hint though, he went after Astrid and grabbed her hand, "Oh come on, Babe, stop playing hard to get." He said with a confident and flirtatious smirk.

Astrid gagged mockingly, "I'm not your Babe, nor do I play hard to get." She hissed at him as she snatched her hand out of his grasp before walking away again.

"Why?" Snotlout demanded, halting her step just as Hiccup arrived at her side, "I'm the best for you, why won't you date me?".

"She don't love you, Snotlout." Hiccup answered for Astrid, "Now, just go find someone else to flirt with".

"Shut up, Useless." Snotlout snarled at him in anger, "I'm asking her, not you".

"You're the one who need to shut up, Snotlout!" Astrid snapped at him with a dead glare as she finally had had enough of the boy's constant attempt to flirt with her, she turned to face the boy and placed her right hand on her hip, "First, Snotlout, you are not the best for me, and like Hiccup said just now, I don't love you. So, give up and find someone else to bother." Her glare than became harsher, "Second, don't you dare call him Useless again, or so help me, I will kick your sorry ass".

With that, Astrid grabbed Hiccup's hand and pulled the boy with her towards the exit, but again Snotlout stopped her.

"Why do you care about him?!" Snotlout demanded as he glared at his Cousin, "He is nothing but a coward who is too chicken to kill a dragon!".

"He is not a coward!" Astrid yelled furiously at him, enough to make Snotlout taken aback in slight fear, "He is a better person that you ever were and ever will!" Her eyes then narrowed, "You asked why I care about him?" She then grabbed Hiccup's collar and pulled him into a kiss full on the lips, causing the boy's eyes to widen in shock. She heard gasps of shock from her audience and a cat call from Gobber, but she ignored them and pulled back before glaring at Snotlout again, "Because I **love** him." She finished before leaving the arena, dragging a dazed and red faced Hiccup with her along the way.

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

* * *

"I can't believe it." Astrid's voice finally snapped Hiccup out of his daze, he looked at her to see that the blond haired girl was glaring in anger, "Just how stupid that boy is until he never catch the hint that I don't have an interest with him what-so-ever? I bet his brain is filled with yak's dung".

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked hesitantly, unsure how he should approach the subject.

"Oh, finally come back to earth?" Astrid asked with a blink as turn to look at him, "Took you long enough".

"That long?" Hiccup asked with blinking eyes.

Astrid sighed, "Let me see, well . . . I've gone to your house from the arena, picked up the basket of fish and the new saddle and tail fin, and now we are halfway to the Cove. So, yeah, that long." She said sarcastically, still in bad mood from what had happened in the arena.

"Hey, I'm the sarcastic one here, not you." Hiccup said with a chuckle, but then turn serious, "Astrid, about what you said in the arena earlier . . ." He hesitated, but continued after Astrid raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you serious that you love me? Or, did you say that just to get Snotlout away from you?".

Astrid stopped walking and crossed her arm with a sigh, "Hiccup." She began seriously, "Do you seriously think that I would kiss you just to get him away from me?".

Hiccup looked down, "It's just . . ." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know, maybe because I never have someone who care about me before, aside from Gobber and, long ago, Dad".

Astrid's gaze softened and she cupped Hiccup's cheek with her palm, "I love you." She said firmly but lovingly, "I love you because you're confident, you're kind, you're courageous, you're definitely skilled in fighting, and many more until I can't say each one of them. I love you for yourself, Hiccup, never doubt it." She then kissed him on the lips again, feeling warm and happy when she felt Hiccup answered her kiss this time. She pulled away, even though she didn't want to, and looked at him seriously while blushing, "The question is, do you love me?".

Hiccup grinned at her with a blush coloring his face, "I love you, already do since I was 5, Astrid." He answered happily, "I thought that you will never love me back, I'm happy that you love me as well".

"Good." Astrid said with a smile, "Because from now on, you are my boyfriend." She winked at him before handing him the basket of fishes, "Now, let's go, I'm sure Toothless is waiting for us".

"Yeah." Hiccup agreed and took the basket from Astrid, "I can't wait to tell him the good news".

They grinned at each other before walking side by side to the Cove, they were tackled by Toothless as soon as they arrived. "Woah!" Hiccup gasped as he and Astrid fell to the ground, "Toothless!" He then chuckled when he felt Toothless licked his face a few times before going to Astrid and did the same, earning a long 'Eew' from the girl. "You miss us, bud?" He asked as he scratched Toothless's head with his hands.

Toothless stared at him and growled softly, Hiccup could just tell that his dragon was asking, 'Where were you?' with his eyes. Well, more of demanding than asking.

"Sorry, Toothless." Hiccup apologized as he tried to stand up before helping Astrid up as well, "We couldn't visit you this morning because we stayed up late working on the new saddle and tail fin." Toothless looked at him skeptically, "Okay, I did most of the work and Astrid was only helping here and there, but it's the same. Besides, we still need to sleep before going to Dragon Training" He said with his hands raised in surrender.

"Toothless was skeptical about me helping you?" Astrid asked curiously. She had seen the dragon's expression before, when Hiccup told the dragon that he hoped Stoick would stop pestering him into killing dragons.

"Yeah." Hiccup answered with a sigh, "My dragon here had been around me for the past 8 years, even if he was watching me in secret, which was not a secret for me to begin with, so of course he knows everything about me and the people around me".

"Even me?" Astrid asked in surprise.

Toothless nodded his head in answer. He took her axe, brought it to Hiccup then made the boy walked to Astrid with the axe in hands, then he took the axe again and walked a foot away from them before dropping the axe onto the ground.

"Oh, you knew that Hiccup was the one who gave me that axe!" Astrid exclaimed in shock, Toothless nodded and looked at her smugly before giving Astrid a mischievous look, "Why do I get a bad feeling about that look?" She asked herself with dread.

Indeed, her bad feeling was proved when Toothless pretended to run one of his claws at the blade of the axe, he then crooned in high pitch while covering his eyes with his claws before shaking his head.

A memory of the past resurfaced in her mind, the one when she had just receiving her axe from Hiccup at her 10th Birthday. As soon as the boy was far away enough from her room, she had run her finger on the blade and was mesmerized by the beauty of the axe and the sharpness of the blade of the axe. She had squealed in delight while covering her face with her hands to hide her blush, she was just so happy that she received a wonderful axe from the boy she admired and secretly attracted to that she did something so girlish.

Astrid's face was deep red as she gaped at the smug dragon in front of her, "Noooo!" She cried out in embarrassment and immediately covered her face with her hands, "I can't believe he saw **that**!" She heard Toothless let out what sounded like a laugh and she glared at the dragon, "Stop laughing, you stupid reptile who like to embarrass people!" She yelled with a bright blush, which only served to make Toothless laughed even more.

She couldn't believe it. Hiccup gave her the axe in the middle of the night, so she was sure that no one was watching her because all of them were asleep, safe for the few Vikings who were on watching duty for the night. She would never expect for a Night Fury to saw her acting so girlish. _Night time, perfect cover for a black colored dragon to explore the village without the Vikings noticed, not to mention the dragon was as silent as a ghost. Damn it!_ She thought in realization, _I bet he was watching the village at night all this years, watching Hiccup and the people around him. No wonder he knows everything about us and what had happened in Berk_.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was gaping in disbelief, he could only look back and forth between his dragon and his girlfriend. He had an image of what Toothless was pretending to be doing, but he couldn't believe that Astrid reacted like that behind his back.

His friendship with Astrid had drifted apart when they were 6, almost as soon as after he declared his refusal to kill dragons. All of his friends had abandoned him right away, he didn't blame them because killing dragons were everything in Berk, so he understood why his friends left him after his declaration. Astrid and Fishlegs were the only ones who didn't treat him with hostility, they acknowledged his presence and nodded at him silently in greetings and still talking with him once in a while, but nothing more.

When he gave Astrid the axe that night on her 10th Birthday, Astrid only gave him a smile and thanked him for the present and said that she like it, before telling him politely that it was late and they both need to sleep, so he said his understanding to the girl and jumped down from her window then head out towards his own home. He thought that Astrid would go back to sleep right away after that, because it would be impossible for Astrid to react more than what she showed him, and yet here the girl screamed with blushing face at what Toothless pretended to do, saying that she couldn't believe that Toothless saw that.

_Could it be . . . that Astrid already like me since then?_ Hiccup thought as he stared at his girlfriend.

Astrid caught him staring and glared, "What are you looking at?!" She snapped with blushing face.

Hiccup blinked and shook his head right away, "Nothing." He said with a sheepish grin, "Why don't we test the new saddle and tail fin now?" He asked to change the subject.

"Yeah, let's do it." Astrid said as she inhaled deeply to get rid of her blush.

"Come on, bud." Hiccup called out to his dragon, "Let's try out your new saddle and tail fin." He said then he and Astrid began to put the saddle and new tail fin on Toothless.

He had build a new tail fin for Toothless because the previous one had ripped when they crashed on a tree, he also added a stir-up on the saddle that would allow him to change the tail fin's position better than just by a mere rope. Hopefully, with this addition, they could finally flying for real without falling or crashing.

After they finished putting the saddle and tail fin, they flew out of the Cove and walked to a nearby cliff that had a broken tree stump on it. Astrid tied one end of the rope to the stump while Hiccup tied the other end on the lower part of the saddle, "Alright, Toothless." Hiccup said as he climbed on his dragon brother, "The wind here is strong so you can lift off the ground easily without having to flap your wings, I need you to unfold your wings and let the wind lifted you so I can try out the positions of the tail fin, the rope will help us stay in place".

Toothless crooned in understanding before unfolding his wings as soon as he felt a strong wind blowing against them, the wind lifted them off the ground and the rope kept them in place, making Toothless looked like a big kite. Hiccup then changed the position of the stir-up with a click and the tail fin's position changed as well, Toothless landed and Hiccup wrote it down on the paper he called as cheat sheet. They did this a few more times before Astrid, who was watching them on the sideway, noticed that the rope would snap soon. Before she could warn Hiccup about it however, the wind lifted Toothless off the ground and the rope snapped as it couldn't stand the strain anymore.

Astrid called out Hiccup's name in worry while Hiccup and Toothless yelled in surprise as the wind threw them backwards into the row of trees, Astrid ran as fast as she could towards the crashing site before stopping dead on her track at the sight in front of her.

When they crashed against one of the tree, Hiccup got stuck on one of the lower branches by the back of his collar while one of his safety harnesses, since the other one had unclasped during the crash, stuck on Toothless's saddle. The grimace on Hiccup's face as he hang on a branch with his arms hanging limply on his side, like a kitten being carried by his mother, and the matching grimace on Toothless's face as he was forced to sit awkwardly like a human would, else Hiccup was pulled down along with him and got strangled, were enough to send Astrid into a fit of laughter.

Both Rider and dragon stared unhappily at the girl with their own version of a scowl as she leaned on the tree while laughing at them, Toothless let out a low growl to show his annoyance while Hiccup crossed his arms. "Yeah, buddy, you are right, she is a very good friend." Hiccup drawled sarcastically in agreement with his dragon, even though he didn't really know what Toothless was saying, he clearly caught the annoyance in Toothless's tone, "She just stand there and laughing her ass off, instead of helping us out of this situation".

"Okay, sorry. I'm sorry!" Astrid apologized but was still laughing as she walked over to them, "It's just your expression was so funny." She said with a grin before pulling her axe out and cut off the branch which holding Hiccup's collar. She watched as Hiccup landed and noticed that Toothless dropped back on all four at the same time as Hiccup's feet touched the ground, her eyebrows raised in surprise when Hiccup and Toothless moved in sync towards each other. Hiccup took a step and Toothless would do the same at the exact same time, Hiccup would move towards the saddle and Toothless would move so Hiccup would reach the saddle easier. _Huh, it's like they know exactly what the other is thinking_, she thought as she observed them.

"Oh, great." Hiccup groaned as he tried to unclasp the harness and failed, "We're stuck".

"Why don't I just cut it with my axe?" Astrid suggested as she walked over to them.

"No, don't." Hiccup immediately stopped her, "It took some time making a strong and good harness like this, I don't want to waste anymore time. I could just make a new one, but Gobber keep a close eye on me lately, I think he got suspicious that I stayed up working at the forge at night, I don't want to take the risk. Also, my Dad would come back anytime now, I have to hurry and help Toothless fly again before he did, or it would be troublesome".

Astrid let out a long breath through her nose and crossed her arms, "What should we do then?" She asked thoughtfully, wondering how they could get out of this situation with as less time needed as possible.

"Wait a minute." Hiccup pulled his notebook and drew something on them before ripping the paper then handed it to her, "Go to the forge and get these for me, I will work on it at the Cove once you return".

"Alright, I will meet you at the Cove!" Astrid said as she took the paper with a grin on her face before running towards the village.

Hiccup watched Astrid go before looking at Toothless with a resigned smile, "Let's go back to the Cove and wait for her there, buddy." He suggested before they walked back towards the Cove together, they arrived not long after and Hiccup climbed on Toothless's back so his dragon could jump into the Cove and landed safely. "Well, we don't have much to do while waiting since we are stuck . . ." Hiccup said thoughtfully as he climbed off of his dragon, "So, do you want to hear what had happened in the Ring today?" He asked as he leaned on Toothless's side.

Toothless grunted and nodded so he told his dragon what had happened.

Astrid hasn't come back yet when Hiccup finished telling Toothless what had happened, so he decided to hum lightly while drawing on his notebook, sometime later, he heard Toothless make a humming sound as well. He looked at Toothless and grinned, "You're humming there, bud?" He asked and received a nod as well as a toothless smile in answer from Toothless, his grin widened before petting his dragon's head, "You never cease to amaze me, bud".

Toothless crooned happily at him before nuzzling his head, a gesture he had learn that was mean to show affection among dragons, so he nuzzled his head back to his dragon to show that he love him as well. Hiccup then returned to his drawing while humming again and Toothless would hummed along with him, Toothless's humming was different from Hiccup since they have different vocals, but the sound they created together was melodious all the same.

Time passed as they hummed together, and without knowing it, the sun had long set by the time Astrid returned to the Cove with the tools Hiccup requested. "I'm sorry that I took so long, Hiccup." She pant as she arrived, she looked like she was running all the way from the village to the Cove, "Snotlout was still stubbornly trying to hit on me and then my Mom told me to do some errands for her." She explained apologetically as she handed the tools to Hiccup.

"It's alright." Hiccup assured her, "Better than if we cut the harness or waiting until night to sneak into the village".

Astrid smiled and sat beside him while leaning on Toothless's side as well, "Good to know." She answered in relief.

It took some time for Hiccup to unclasp the harness and then took another to fix it, by the time he finished, it was very late in the night so he and Toothless couldn't try to fly again. "Well, let's call it a day then." Hiccup said before they heard Toothless growled, "What's wrong, bud?" He asked in confusion.

Toothless's ears was folded back as he looked at the night sky some distance away, he then looked at Hiccup and flapped his wings as if he wanted to fly before landing and motioned towards the village with his head.

"Flying? Towards the village? But it's dangerous." Astrid said in confusion as she stared at the black dragon.

"No, I don't think he meant that." Hiccup said thoughtfully as he thought what his dragon was trying to say. _Flying . . . to the village . . ._ His eyes widened in shock as realization dawned on him, "Dragons are heading for Berk? A raid?" He asked his dragon urgently, who nodded grimly in answer, he exchanged worried look with Astrid before they ran to the exit, "We need to go, I'm afraid we can't come back soon, but we will come back once we get the chance!" He yelled as he glanced back to his dragon.

"We promised!" Astrid yelled as well.

Toothless roared softly at them as if wishing them luck before they ran out of the Cove.

They ran as fast as they could towards their village and arrived in time to hear the look outs yelling warning, "Dad really chose a bad time to search for the Nest!" Hiccup growled as they entered the village, they could see many Vikings rushing out of their houses carrying weapons all around them, "Astrid, go and tell the teens to get fire brigade ready! Oh, send Gustav to the forge as well, he could help sharpening the weapons! You will help fighting the dragons, but don't kill any of them, just enough until they retreat!" He ordered his Viking girlfriend.

Astrid nodded in understanding, "What about you?" She asked as she pulled out her axe.

"I will get my twin rods from the forge and help fighting off the dragons as well." Hiccup answered before he ran to the forge.

"Hiccup!" Gobber greeted him as soon as he entered the forge, "Good thing you are here. Man the fort, they need me out there!".

"I can't, Gobber!" Hiccup answered as he went to his workspace and slipped his twin rods beside his Wing Blades, "I told Astrid to send Gustav here, I had taught him to sharpen the weapons so he can help." He explained before running to the door, "We are low on people, I need to help out there as well! Wait for Gustav before you go!".

"Aye!" Gobber agreed easily. He know that Hiccup had a great leadership, what with him being the Chief's Son and had a good brain in his head, so he believed that Hiccup could handle the situation better than him, or any other Viking in this village at the moment.

Hiccup had only a few feet away from the village before the people began yelling at him to get inside, "What are you doing here, Useless?!" Snotlout snapped at him, "We have enough problem here without you adding to that!".

"Shut up!" Hiccup snapped back at him, "My Dad isn't here so I will take his position for now!".

"Why should we listen to you?!" Snotlout demanded, "You will only cause more destruction!".

"And what do you think we should do? Just attack without strategy?" Hiccup shot back. He was aware that they were the center of attention there, so it was a good thing that the dragons hadn't arrived yet, or they would be in big trouble now.

"Of course!" Snotlout said boastfully, "We are Vikings, we attack without fear! I will be in charge here! I'm more of a Viking than you, so-".

"**_ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! VIKINGS HAVE STUBBORNESS ISSUE, NOT FOOLISHNESS!_**" Hiccup cut him off furiously as he snapped out of his patience, which was a really great feat to do considering he was a very patient person. He couldn't believe his Cousin was so stupid, here they were about to be raided by dragons and his stupid Cousin wanted to get the glory until he would risk the life of the people, "A Chief protect his own! If you think you can be a better Chief than me in the future, then you have to think about your people first instead of your own stupid glory!" He then glared at the Vikings around them, "I repeat, I will take over the lead! If you want to die then feel free to listen to Snotlout's stupid idea of rushing without a plan!".

He waited for the people to leave him and just follow Snotlout, but the people waited for him. "At your command, Hiccup." Keila, Astrid's Mother, said firmly with a nod and she was followed by the rest, except for Snotlout who was glaring at him. They know a leader when they saw one, they could see that Hiccup was more of a leader than Snotlout. So, they decided that it's time for them to listen to the Heir of Berk instead of telling him to get inside, now that Stoick was away from Berk in search of the Nest, they need him to fill in his Father's position.

Hiccup nodded in satisfaction, "Okay, we are low on people here so we have to focus on defense." He began as he looked at Silent Sven, "Sven, get the sheep and yaks to the Great Hall, the Great Hall is made of stone so it's harder for the dragons to get in! Forget the fishes, we can get more later! Also, take a few people with you so it can be done faster!" Sven nodded and he motioned for some people to follow him, he then moved to the others, "Keila, you and a few others get to the catapult towers, you know what to do so you're in charge there! Phlegma, get the children to the Great Hall as well! Some of you, go with her! Your first priority is to protect the children, fight off the dragons if they attack you but don't bother to kill them! Fire brigade, get ready to put down any house that is on fire! The rest of you, we will fight off the dragons and make sure they don't get close to the Great Hall! Get a shield, protect yourself and others more than trying to kill a dragon! I don't want anyone to die tonight!".

With a battle cry, they left to do as they were told, except for those who were supposed to fight off the dragons and prevent them from coming to the Great Hall. Hiccup know that there would be at least a dragon died that night, but it's inevitable. He had to protect his people first at the moment, he couldn't risk his people's life because he didn't want for the dragons to die, even if his heart hurt because of it. He looked up at the sky and saw the dragons began to dive at them, "Scatter! Don't group yourselves or you will be an easy target, but don't to be too far apart either!" He yelled to the remaining Vikings, who immediately left following his order.

"What've we got?!" Gobber called out as he ran out of the forge to him.

"Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks." Hiccup answered as he scanned the sky for the dragons.

"Any Night Fury?" Gobber asked nervously.

"None." Hiccup said firmly. Toothless was the only Night Fury in the whole archipelago, he was afraid that his dragon brother might be the last one left, and with him being in the Cove, he couldn't join the raid.

"Good." Gobber said in relief, "We can't afford to have one now".

"I'm more worried about the Monstrous Nightmares than a Night Fury." Hiccup answered honestly, earning a raised eyebrow from Gobber but he just ignored the man.

"A Nightmare is heading for the catapult!" One of the Vikings warned from somewhere nearby, "Someone who can fight it, get that dragon before it destroy the catapult!".

"I will take care of it!" Hiccup yelled as he began running towards the catapult tower, "Gobber, you take charge over here, make sure the dragons don't get into the Great Hall!".

"Sure, Hiccup!" Gobber answered cheerfully, at least now the people could see just how skillful Hiccup truly was.

"Is that alright, Gobber?" Another Viking asked as he pointed at Hiccup, who was already far away from them.

"Don't worry." Gobber answered the man as he looked at the approaching dragons, "He can handle himself just fine." He then immediately barked orders to the surrounding Vikings who were in his charge.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Hiccup was running near the storage when a voice called him, he looked around and saw Fishlegs had just throwing some water to a burning house, "The Terrible Terrors are targeting the chickens!" The big teen reported.

Hiccup gritted his teeth, he had to take care of the Nightmare and wouldn't have the time to take care of the Terrors. He looked at Fishlegs and an idea came to his mind, it's a risky move but he had to take the chance, "Wait here." He said before entering the storage, he took and eel and ran back out, he went to Fishlegs and slipped the eel into the boy's belt, "Go and fight off those Terrors, it's impossible to protect all the chickens so just make sure we will have enough for winter!".

"What's with this eel?!" Fishlegs asked as Hiccup began running again after grabbing the empty bucket from the big boy's hand.

"Just keep it there! You will find out later!" Hiccup answered without looking back, he arrived at the catapult tower not long after and saw Keila barking orders while fighting off the Nightmare. He immediately threw the bucket to the flaring dragon and caught it's attention. Nightmares were temperamental dragons, so he knew the dragon would target him as soon as he threw the bucket, "Focus on defending the village!" He ordered Keila before pulling out his twin rods and took a battle stance, the Nightmare landed in front of him and he smirked at the dragon, "Think you can win?" He challenged.

The Nightmare let out a roar before lunging at him, he jumped aside while connecting his rods into one long rod before swing his now long rod to the dragon. Hiccup smirked slightly when the dragon let out a surprised roar, the dragon must be thinking that a simple rod wouldn't hurt him. _Poor dragon_, He thought as he get back into a battle stance, _You don't know what this rod is made from, do you_.

Just like his Wing Blades that were made from an unusual material, the scales of Night Fury, his twin rods were made from an unusual material as well, a special iron produced by a Gronckle which he called as Gronckle Iron.

He found out about Gronckle Iron from an accident. He knew that Gronckle like eating stones more than fishes, so he brought many of reddish colored stones that he found in the forest, the stones were a bit lighter than others so he chose them to make sneaking into the arena while carrying the stones easier. Meatlug was very happy that she got to eat stones again, so happy that she ate all of the stones in one go and she got a stomach ache. He felt guilty because it was partially his fault that Meatlug got stomach ache like that, he shouldn't bring that many stones for the Gronckle in one trip, so he tried to help her by tickling her stomach.

He wasn't surprised when Meatlug barfed out the stones in the form of a lava, but he was surprised when the lava turned into iron as soon as it cooled off. Curious, he immediately went to the forge and tried to make something out of the iron. He already planned to make the twin rods before, so he decided to make the rods using the Gronckle Iron. He needed a hotter temperature to melt the special iron, but he managed, and he was satisfied when he finished the rods. The twin rods were whitish in color and was lighter than normal iron, but the strength of the Gronckle Iron surpassed those of normal irons greatly, he could even bend a sword when he hit it with one of his rods using half of his full strength.

"Don't underestimate me or this rod." Hiccup said to the Nightmare, which answered by a growl from the Nightmare, normal human couldn't hear his voice in the middle of a raid but a dragon surely could, "You will find yourself surprised." He chuckled when the growl grew louder and jumped back from the dragon's open jaw which snapped closed at his previous spot, he then set a serious face for he didn't have time to play around, he need to protect his people.

They were neck to neck, he and the Nightmare tried to land a hit on the other but the other would evade the attack. Hiccup was so focused at the Nightmare in front of him that he was surprised when he heard a growl behind him, he blocked the snapping jaw of the Nightmare with his rod and stole a glance behind, only to grimace when he saw another Nightmare glared at him.

That was why he was worried about Monstrous Nightmares more than a Night Fury, he felt like the Nightmares had a personal vendetta against him, maybe because he was Stoick's Son and Stoick had killed many Nightmares in the past. "Oh, the Gods hates me." He could only mutter as the new Nightmare prepared to burn him to crisp.

Hiccup knew that he would be dead if he didn't get himself out of the way soon, so he disconnected the rods and pulled each rod out of the Nightmare's jaw from the opposite sides of each other, then he immediately performed a somersault dive to his right to get some space from the two flaring dragons. He turned around in time to see the Nightmare he fought with before shook her, he guessed it's a her, head then glared at the new Nightmare, which he guessed was a he, before the two Nightmares focused on him.

"Two against one? You guys don't play fair." Hiccup said in joking tone as he re-connected his rods and swung it in front of him to rid it of the Nightmare's saliva, he wouldn't want his rod to catch on fire and become a torch because of it. He got into battle stance again when the two Nightmares slowly approached him, his stance showed confidence even though his heart was beating rapidly from nervousness.

He know his own ability, he could easily fight two dragons at once if his intention was to kill them, but since he didn't want to kill them, he could only fight one-on-one with them. He had said that he wouldn't kill a dragon unless it's the only thing to do to survive, and so far, he didn't have to kill them to survive. He really hoped that it wouldn't change today, because he really didn't want to kill a dragon, he felt like he was betraying Toothless if he did.

"Hiccup!" A feminine voice cried out before a bucket, which he suspected as the bucket he threw earlier, was thrown at one of the Nightmares, the female one he guessed. He, along with the dragons, looked at who had interrupted and saw Astrid with a shield on her left wrist and her axe in her right hand.

"Nice of you to join us, Astrid." Hiccup shot her a grin as the female Nightmare left him in favor of focusing on Astrid.

"Well, I was nearby and saw that you could use another person to even the number, so I decided to join the party." Astrid answered as she focused on the female Nightmare as well. How convenient their situation was, a human girl fought with a girl dragon and a human boy fought with a boy dragon.

"Thanks to you, I can keep my hands clean of dragon's blood." Hiccup said sincerely as he focused on the male Nightmare.

"Don't worry about it." Astrid answered with a smirk on her face, "It's my job as your girlfriend".

"Let's send this couple home then." Hiccup answered before he got serious and attacked the Nightmare.

The fight continued, both Hiccup and Astrid tried to attack the dragons without killing the dragon they fought against, while the dragons tried to either burn them to crisp or maim them. Hiccup was baiting the male Nightmare to shoot fire at him, so it wasn't long before the male Nightmare reached his shot limit. "You has reached your shot limit." He informed the dragon, "It's better if you retreat now, don't you think?".

"You reached your shot limit as well, dragoness." Astrid said as she twirled her axe in her hand, "We won't kill you, so just back off." The two dragons sniffed at them a few times before flying away, "What were they doing that for?" She asked Hiccup as soon as the dragons flew off.

"They were taking in our scent, so they could recognize us if we meet each other again." Hiccup explained as he looked around, "We can't relax yet though, we need to help the others".

"Right." Astrid answered before they ran off to separate direction.

The raiding dragons took their time as usual, some of them tried to get to the Great Hall while the others stole the fishes from the storage while fighting with the Vikings, they only left once the sun beginning to rise. By the time the dragons retreated, many houses needed some repairing or be rebuild entirely, live stocks could be seen being carried by the dragons, and many Vikings were injured.

Hiccup and the other Vikings met up in front of the Great Hall, "How many of you get injured?" Hiccup asked once he saw everyone arrived.

"Nearly all of the adults and teens, but nothing serious." Phlegma answered him, "The children are unharmed".

"No one died, right?" Hiccup asked in worry, Gobber shook his head, earning a relieved sigh from Hiccup, "Alright, how's the situation?".

"More or less 20 houses needs to be repaired, 4 houses needs to be build a new." Gobber informed him.

"We lost about half of our live stocks." Mulch reported, "We weren't fast enough, so we lost the ones left outside the Great Hall".

"I'm sorry, Hiccup." Fishlegs apologized as he looked down in shame, "I only managed to save 10 chickens out of 28".

"Don't worry, Fishlegs, as long as you are still alive." Hiccup answered with a smile, lifting the bigger boy's spirit, "Human's life is more important than chickens. Besides, we still have chickens to get eggs, so you did a good job considering you were alone against a whole flock of Terrors." He then looked back at Mulch, "Do you think our current live stocks will be enough to last us until after Devastating Winter?".

"I don't think so." Mulch answered sadly with a shake of his head, "We can save more live stocks than usual, but the Chief and the rest of them would return soon, we won't have enough to cover for them as well".

"I see." Hiccup muttered thoughtfully, "Then you and Bucket need to go fishing." He decided as he looked carefully at them, "Treat your wounds and get an hour rest, then you set out immediately. We are racing against time here, you will take turn with the other fishermen to go fishing, we need to restock the fishes before the ice set in".

Mulch and Bucket nodded at him before leaving towards the healer's hut, Hiccup then moved his attention to Astrid, "Astrid, you and I will go to the forest later." He told his girlfriend, "We can't rely on fishes and other live stocks only, now that we lost half of them, we will pick some fruits from the forest and consumable vegetation".

"You can't go alone!" Keila protested, "Who knows what kind of animals are there in the forest, I and a few others will go with you both".

"Thank you for your offer." Hiccup answered with a nod. He figured that he had to sneak at night since he couldn't visit Toothless if the others went along with him and Astrid, oh well. "Alright, we will go once you treat your wounds and get some rest to restore your stamina." He then looked at the others, "You all, treat your wounds and get some rest as well, you need to fix the houses as soon as you get your stamina back".

Hiccup waited until the people walked back to their home, the Great Hall, or the healer's hut until only he, Astrid, Gobber, Fishlegs, and Gustav left before looking at the younger boy, "Gustav, thank you for your help back there." He said with a big smile at the boy.

Gustav smiled at him as well, "You're welcome." He said proudly, "But there are many weapons that need to be fixed, I can only sharpen weapons not fix them, so I leave them to you and Gobber".

"Don't worry." Gobber said as he pat the boy's back, nearly making the boy fell face planted from the force, "I will fix them as soon as I get some rest, Hiccup need to take over the chiefing duties until Stoick come back".

"Ah, I don't think so, Gobber." Hiccup shook his head with a cheeky grin, "You are the one Dad chose to take over the chiefing duties, so you do the job, not me".

"Then who will fix the weapons?" Gobber demanded as he pointed to the forge's direction.

"I will do it after I return from the forest." Hiccup promised with a smile before shooing the man off, "Go and get some rest".

"Okay, okay, I understand." Gobber said with a sigh and left, "Come on, Gustav." He was taking Gustav with him since the boy's parents were off with Stoick, and because the poor boy's house got burned down earlier.

"Hiccup, there's something I want to ask." Fishlegs asked once Gobber left.

"What is it, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked curiously as he slowly walked to his house, Astrid and Fishlegs followed him.

"About the eel . . ." Fishlegs trailed off because he didn't know how to ask what he wanted to ask.

"About how I know that dragons are scared of eels, you mean?" Hiccup asked with a knowing smirk.

"Yes." Fishlegs answered with a nod of his head while staring at him with wide eyes filled with surprise.

"You know, sometimes spending time observing dragons like Bork the Bold is good." Hiccup answered cheekily, "I have seen more than all of you have ever seen. Why do you think I don't want to kill the dragons? I will fight them if needed, but I refuse to kill them, remember?".

"Yeah, but I thought you don't want to kill dragons because you have a kind heart." Fishlegs answered sheepishly, while his hands were playing with his shirt, it's a sign that he was nervous.

"Well, he do have kind heart." Astrid answered him with a cheeky grin, "My knowledge is nowhere as much as Hiccup's, but I have seen enough that I don't want to kill the dragons anymore".

"Really?!" Fishlegs asked in shock, he never expected that Astrid of all people would share Hiccup's opinion.

"Really." Astrid answered seriously with a nod.

"Do you want to know more about dragons, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked with a gentle smile, Fishlegs nodded enthusiastically in answer, "Then come to the arena alone tonight, I will show you the true nature of the dragons, just don't let anyone see you".

"Okay, I will come alone." Fishlegs promised, "Thank you, Hiccup, I will make sure no one see me, I promise".

They watched Fishlegs went to his home before looking at each other with a smile, "Good job earlier, Milady." Hiccup commented.

Astrid's smile widened, "You as well, you're amazing earlier." She answered in compliment.

"Thank you." Hiccup answered with a blush on his face, "Come to the arena later tonight, I will pair you up with one of the dragons".

"Which dragon?" Astrid whispered excitedly.

"It's a surprise." Hiccup said with a mischievous grin, "Get some rest, you need it".

"You need it too, and don't forget to treat that wound on your side." Astrid retorted with a huff as she crossed her arms, "Anyway, what should we do? We can't visit Toothless if the adults come with us".

"We will visit him once we are done in the arena tonight." Hiccup told her before stopping and held her hand in his, "I will see you later, Milady".

Astrid smiled, she stepped forward and kissed Hiccup's lips for a few seconds before retreating, "See you later." She said cheerfully before jogging towards her home.

Hiccup smiled as he watched Astrid go before continuing his walk to his own home, a secondary one since his first home was in the Cove, where Toothless was waiting for him. "What a long night." He commented as he looked at his half destroyed village with sad eyes. He really hoped that the war would end soon, he couldn't stand being torn between the two sides anymore.

Just like how Hiccup hoped that the war would end soon, Stoick hoped the same thing as well, but with a different approach. Hiccup wanted the people to try to understand dragons so they could end the war, but Stoick wanted to end the war by killing every single dragon out there. That's the reason why Stoick wanted to find the Nest so much, that and because he wanted to avenge his wife's death, but Stoick really chose a wrong time to go on the search for the Nest this time. If it's not for Hiccup, Berk might not survive from the raid, and for that Hiccup wanted to yell at his Dad so bad, to lecture the man that he should stay to protect Berk more than going out on a search.

Indeed, Berk might not survive from the raid this time if it's not for Hiccup, and Hiccup realized that he might get pressured to kill dragons even more now, but what he didn't realize was that the Vikings had finally seen two things that they overlooked before. During that raid, they had seen that Hiccup would be a great Chief in the future, one that could rival even Stoick the Vast himself. The way he immediately take the lead once he saw a danger approaching, the way he cared for his people more than himself, and the way he commanded his people so they could overcome any problem with the best outcome were more than enough to open their eyes to see just how wonderful the boy they had ignored all this time.

The other thing they had seen was the fact that even though Hiccup was often a clumsy boy, more often set a building ablaze without knowing than not, his clumsiness disappeared when he was with a dragon. Whether it's to fight them like how he fought during the raid, or to feed them like when he feed the dragons in the arena, the boy looked as if he was in his natural zone.

It's a bit unsettling for the people of Berk, because it's not everyday they saw a boy who acted more casual with dragons, their centuries long enemy, than his own tribe. On the other hand, the boy cared about his people more than himself, that fact settled their uneasiness for the boy would never betray his own tribe, if there's a chance that the boy would betray them then maybe the fault was at their own hands.

In the raid when Stoick was away, a newfound respect had bloomed at the heart of every Berkian who had witness the hidden leadership of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. All of them respected the boy and wanted to know more about the boy they had ignored all these years, all of them, even Snotlout.

Snotlout would never admit it out loud, but he felt like he was blind all those years he acted like a jerk to his skinny Cousin, just because Hiccup refused to kill dragons, and he overlooked the fact that his Cousin was, possibly, the coolest teens at Berk. Hiccup could fight better than them, he got a smart brain and he was a very skilled blacksmith, and now he had shown just how great his leadership was.

_[I have seen more than all of you have ever seen . . .]_

"Why do you think Hiccup refuses to kill dragons?"

"What?" The Thorston twins asked in confusion.

Unlike Fishlegs who went to his own home, Snotlout and the twins went to the Great Hall. They were enjoying an early breakfast together to regain their stamina, so they could repair their broken roofs later, when Snotlout asked that question out of the blue.

"Why do you think Hiccup refuses to kill dragons?" Snotlout repeated his question, "In the past, Hiccup only said that because it's not him, we didn't really care the real reason and just assuming that he's too scared to fight dragons." He looked up from his food and looked at the twins, "We had seen earlier that Hiccup could fight with a Nightmare, a dragon that only the best Vikings can fight, and he only used a mere rod. If Hiccup used those swords he carried with him, he could kill the Nightmare easily. Why won't he kill the Nightmare? Why he refuses to kill dragons?".

The twins were silent. Normally, when they were asked questions like that, they would blurted out stupid things that came to mind, just so they could be seen as stupid and could easily get away from any punishment. This time thought, it felt wrong to just blurt out whatever entered their mind, so they didn't answer the question right away and really think about it.

"Because . . . he is different than us?" Tuffnut offered his answer.

"What?" Snotlout was the one who asked in confusion now.

"He is different." Ruffnut repeated for her brother, "Unlike us, he is smart, kind, and curious. He is the opposite of a Viking like us, except for the stubbornness part." She explained when Snotlout still looked at her in confusion, "He is smart because who else could think of many type of contraptions he made in the past? Even though they often failed than not, but looked at the ones which are not, his inventions that don't fail had helped us greatly".

"He is kind because he shows mercy to his enemy, he has the kindness and strength for that." Tuffnut continued for her, "His kindness is what make him use his smart brain to help us, even when the village turn cold shoulder to him just because his few failed inventions destroyed part of the village. I and Ruff always told him that his performance was impressive every time his invention failed, it's actually our way to cheer him up, aside from because we love explosion, but I think we did it the wrong way." He looked at his twin before they sighed together then shaking their heads in unison, "He is smart because he is always curious, and when he's curious, he would always search for answers until those answers satisfy his curiosity. That shows that he is stubborn because he would never give up until he achieve his goal, but that also shows how strong he really is, he has the strength to rise back up when he failed".

"He is sarcastic too." Ruffnut added with a smirk, "His sarcastic humor is really funny, you don't know it because you always went with Hiccup every time he and Stoick went to another tribe, but the village felt too quiet without Hiccup's sarcasm".

Snotlout felt even more guilty than before, he was Hiccup's Cousin but he knew nothing about the boy, even the twins knew about Hiccup more than him. "You know, I heard what Hiccup said to Fishlegs earlier. I stayed behind because I want to know how Hiccup could fight a Nightmare when he doesn't train with us in Dragon Training, I heard Hiccup told Fishlegs that he had seen more than all of us have ever seen about dragons." He told them since he couldn't keep it in anymore, "What had he seen that we haven't? I think what he had seen is the real reason why he refuses to kill dragons, because Astrid also said she won't kill dragons after she had seen enough as well".

"We never question it, huh?" Ruffnut mussed, bringing the boy's attention to her, "We are Vikings and we are raised in Viking's way, we never ask whether it's right or not, we'll do it as long as it's the Viking's way. Hiccup is different, he always question things, so he does something we never do, he questions the truth instead of just accept what parents told us." She then looked at the two boys straight in the eyes, "Why the dragons raids us? Our ancestors never questioned it, they were attacked so they attacked back without trying to find the reason behind the attack, because they were Vikings. Our parents told us that it's because dragons are mindless beasts who serve one purpose only, destruction, and we accept it just like that because we are Vikings. We never ask ourselves if it is the truth or not, that's why this war still going on even after 300 years passed".

There was silence again after Ruffnut's words, but it didn't last long. "Do you think Hiccup can stop this war?" Snotlout asked them again, "He said that he had seen more than us, and I believe that it's the truth. This war had taken too many lives, sooner or later we would lose more of our loved ones, or even our own lives. Do you think he can stop this war?".

"In a different way than the Viking's way?" Tuffnut asked before nodding, "I think he can. I mean, Stoick and the previous Chiefs always failed because they stubbornly tried to end the war in the Viking's way, with Hiccup who thinks differently than a normal Viking, he can find a way to end this war using his own way".

Ruffnut nodded in agreement to support her brother's answer.

Snotlout couldn't help but agree with them, and he couldn't help but ask, "Since when the two of you are this smart?".

"We have our moments." The twins answered together with a grin to break the tension.

Snotlout shook his head with a chuckle before he leaned forward and motioned the twins to do the same. "Hiccup told Fishlegs to come to the arena tonight, he said he will show the true nature of the dragons." He told them with a smirk on his face, "If Hiccup had seen more than us and he might be able to end this war, why don't we help him? I think it's time we help him instead of ignoring him, don't you agree?".

The twins answered him with a matching smirk, they couldn't agree more.

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

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The rest of the day went in a blur. Hiccup and the others immediately did as they planned after they had an hour of rest, Hiccup went to the forest with Astrid, Keila, and a few others, they picked some fruits and any consumable vegetation. He couldn't sneaked into the Cove when he was in the forest, so he had to wait until night so he could sneaked into the Cove without being seen, but before that, there's something that he had to do in the arena.

"Did you wait long?" Hiccup looked up from dumping the fishes for the dragons and saw Astrid entering the arena with a smile on her face, and then Fishlegs entered after Astrid, "I met Fishlegs on the way, so we came here together after making sure no one saw us." She explained.

"So, what do you want to show me?" Fishlegs asked excitedly.

"First, have you seen dragons eating?" Hiccup asked with a grin on his face as he gestured to the big pile of fishes and a pile of rocks.

"No." Fishlegs answered as he pulled out a note book, "I'm definitely going to write it down." He said determinedly.

Hiccup chuckled and walked over to the levers that would release the dragons inside the pens, "Alright, sit there and watch, you will be alright as long as you don't have any weapon with you." He told the bigger boy before pulling all of the levers down, just as usual.

"All of them at once?!" Fishlegs squeaked in panic. He had been trained in Dragon Training, so he wouldn't panic if it's only one dragon at a time, but all of them at once would be impossible for him to defend himself, and so no one could blame him if he was panicking. "I thought you will only let them out one at a time, like in training".

"Don't worry." Hiccup said simply, "I have done this for longer than a year, I know what I'm doing".

As soon as the pens unlocked, all the dragons got out of the pens. Stormfly, Meatlug, and Sharpshot ran out of their pens while Hookfang and Barf and Belch walked out leisurely. The dragons immediately stopped moving as soon as they saw Astrid and Fishlegs, they didn't growl or snarl or hiss but they get into a defensive stance, ready to defend themselves if needed.

"Calm down, guys." Hiccup said to the dragons as soon as he saw them tensed, "The girl is Astrid and the boy is Fishlegs, they won't hurt you, don't worry".

The dragons looked at him then to Astrid and Fishlegs, they sniffed the air to see if they were dangerous or not. Hiccup expected them to relax once they caught the scent of his friends, but he was surprised when they instead growl after sniffing the air.

"What's wrong?" He asked in worry as he slowly walked over to them, he hoped that he could calm them down before they attract attention of the Vikings. Stormfly squawked at him before she shot her spikes at the weapon rack, he frowned and walked over to the rack before looking behind it, only to discover Snotlout and the twins hiding behind it. He gaped at them, "What are you guys doing here?" He asked in shock.

Snotlout and the twins looked at each other before they all came out of their hiding spot, "Well, you see, Hiccup." Snotlout began as he fixed his clothes, "I heard your conversation with Fishlegs, so I told them and we decided to come here and see what you want to show Fishlegs as well".

"Yeah." Ruffnut and Tuffnut nodded in agreement, "You said you will show him the true nature of dragons, right? We want to know as well." Tuffnut said with a grin on his face.

"We want to be let in with the secret." Ruffnut added with a smirk.

Hiccup could only blink in a mix of confusion and shock as well as disbelief. "Hiccup." Snotlout called him again so he looked at his Cousin, "Answer me seriously. Do you think you can end this war?".

Hiccup blinked, "Why would you ask me this?" He asked in confusion.

"I told you, I heard your conversation with Fishlegs." Snotlout answered him seriously, a rare expression on the boy, "You said you have seen more than us, so, do you think you can end the war with what you have seen?".

Hiccup blinked again before his wear a serious expression as well. "There's a way to end the war." He explained to them, "If I can show all the Vikings that we don't have to kill the dragons, and show them that we can work together with the dragons, then I can stop them from killing dragons. We don't know why the dragons keep raiding us, but even so, if we can get these dragons to help us then it's a start. If we really want to end this war, we have to find out the reason behind it and solve it together with the help of the dragons".

"Let us help you then." Snotlout said seriously and the twins nodded to back up his statement, "Show us that your plan is possible and we will help you achieve this goal, I'm sure you know as well as I do that we all are tired of this war".

Hiccup looked at them straight in the eyes to see if they were serious and could only see sincerity there, he smiled and nodded at them. "I understand, thank you for wanting to help." He said gratefully to them. If the teens worked together with him, then his dream of the Vikings and dragons live together in peace could come true. "Alright, if you want to see the true nature of dragons, leave any weapon you have with you here and walk over to where Fishlegs and Astrid are waiting." He instructed them firmly.

They were a bit nervous, it's understandable considering they were in the same place with many dragons, but they did as were told and left their weapons on the ground in front of the weapon rack. Hiccup nodded at them and step aside to allow them to walk to where Astrid and Fishlegs were, the dragons were still tense, but not as much now that the teens didn't have weapons with them anymore.

"Okay." Hiccup started once Snotlout and the twins sat beside Fishlegs and Astrid, "Before we start, let the dragons eat first, I'm sure they are starving." He nodded at the dragons and they began to eat, Meatlug ate the stones while the rest ate the fishes.

"The Gronckle eat rocks?" Fishlegs asked curiously.

"Yeah, most dragons eat fish, but Gronckles can eat rocks as well." Hiccup explained, "If you feed a Gronckle with a certain rock, the Gronckle can turn that rock into a material, for example . . ." He pulled out his rods so they understood that he made his rods using unusual material, "Gronckle Iron, this type of iron is stronger and lighter than normal iron." He explained before handing one of them to Astrid and the other to Snotlout, "Hold it and you will feel the difference".

The teens took turns to observe the rods before giving them back to Hiccup, "You sure they are strong?" Astrid asked curiously, "I understand if your Wing Blades stronger than iron, but this Gronckle Iron?".

Hiccup nodded, "Want to see a demonstration?" He asked and they nodded excitedly in answer, "Alright then." He then walked to the weapon rack and pulled out one of the sword, "Stormfly, help me a bit here, girl." He called out to his Nadder friend, who squawked and came over immediately.

The dragons had finished eating and were watching him and the other teens, that's why Stormfly came over as soon as she was called. Besides, the Nadder was curious about what they were going to do.

"Her name is Stormfly?" Astrid asked again with interest. She always thought that Deadly Nadders were beautiful dragons, she hoped Hiccup would pair her with the Nadder later.

"Well, even if they have a name, they can't tell me, so I give them a new name since I hate calling them by their species, like 'Hey, dragon!' or their family name, like 'Hey, Nadder!'. I think it's insulting and I don't want to insult them." Hiccup explained as he held the sword in front of Stormfly, "Now watch." He told the teens before looking at Stormfly, "Stormfly, hit this sword with your tail as hard as you can." Stormfly tilted her head to the right as she squawked curiously, but she did as was asked, she turned around and slammed her tail down at the sword, causing the sword to fly from Hiccup's hand and hit the wall. Hiccup walked over to the fallen sword and picked it up before throwing it to Snotlout, who caught it easily, "It's bent, right?" He asked them with a smile.

"Yeah, of course it would bend." Snotlout answered him, "I mean, getting hit by a dragon's tail can bend it easily".

"Now, watch this." Hiccup told them again as he pulled out one of his rod, "Once again, Stormfly." He told his Nadder friend, who immediately hit his rod with her tail, the rod flew from Hiccup's hand just like the sword did. He picked the rod up and threw it to Tuffnut, who failed to catch it in time and it hit his head, earning a chuckle from the rest of the teens, "Is my rod bent from the force?" He asked them smugly.

Hiccup saw their eyes widened and their jaw dropped at the sight of his still straight rod, not even a scratch could be seen on it, "Wow." They breathed out the word in awe.

Astrid looked at Hiccup with an excited grin, "Hiccup, can you make an axe for me using Gronckle Iron?" She asked excitedly, "I want it!".

Hiccup chuckled and nodded, "A day or two after you bond with your dragon." He answered as he gestured at Stormfly.

"Yes!" Astrid cheered as she jumped up, she took the rod from Tuffnut's hand and ran to his side, "I was hoping you will pair me up with her, thank you." She said as she handed the rod back to Hiccup, who accepted it and slipped it into his belt again.

"Okay, here is what you have to do." Hiccup began before whispering to her, "Nadder like to be praised, so praise her, then slowly walk to her tail without leaving her sight, slowly but surely touch her tail".

"Just like that?" Astrid asked curiously, Hiccup nodded and stepped back to give her some space, so she inhaled deeply and looked at the Nadder. "Hello, Stormfly." She called with a smile, "I'm Astrid and people say that I'm beautiful, but I can see that you are even more beautiful than me." She said to compliment her soon-to-be dragon partner. Stormfly purred at the praise and she know that she was in the right track, just like what Hiccup said, so she slowly walked over to Stormfly's tail without breaking eye contact. "I won't hurt you, I promise." She said with a smile as she slowly reached out to the Nadder's tail, "What do you say about us as friends?" She asked and a second later, her palm touched the base of Stormfly's tail. Stormfly let out a happy squawk, she turned around and nuzzled Astrid's stomach with her head.

Astrid gasped in wonder at the sensation, she had never felt so connected with another being before, human or dragon, and she couldn't help but grinning from ear to ear as she softly patting Stormfly's beak with her hands. She looked at Hiccup with happiness in her eyes, "Hiccup, I did it!" She breathed out in awe, "I befriends Stormfly!".

Hiccup nodded with something like pride in his gaze as he looked at Stormfly and Astrid, "You did it." He said in agreement with a warm smile on his face, "Now, use this time to deeper your bond with her, I'm going to explain a few things to the others." Astrid nodded and sat down, Stormfly sat down as well before curling herself around Astrid so Astrid could lean on her side. Hiccup smiled happily at the sight before walking over to the others, "What do you think?" He asked them.

"Awesome." Ruffnut and Tuffnut said with a big grin on their face with their eyes nearly as wide as their grin, "I want a dragon as well." They said before glaring at each other.

"I'm getting a dragon first." Ruffnut said in annoyance.

"No, I'm first." Tuffnut retorted.

Hiccup sighed as they began their usual bickering and just focused on the gaping Snotlout and Fishlegs, "If you have any question, just ask it." He told them.

"How is that even possible?" Snotlout asked as he stared at Astrid and Stormfly with wide eyes filled with disbelief.

"Alright, what is the words Gobber told you at the first day of dragon training?" He asked them with a raised eyebrow and his arms crossed, "The one after Meatlug nearly blast Astrid".

" 'Dragons will always go for the kill.' " Fishlegs quoted right away.

"What do you see now?" Hiccup asked as he motioned to Astrid and Stormfly, then to the rest of the dragons who were watching them calmly in front of their own pen, "What are they doing?".

"Not going for the kill for sure, they just sit there and watch us." Snotlout answered him with a gulp, "So, everything that we know about dragons is . . ." He trailed off as he wasn't ready to admit it.

"Wrong." Hiccup finished his statement with certainty, "Vikings knows nothing of the dragons, even **I** don't know everything about them, our ancestors only could only making assumptions and not stating a fact." He told them with a soft sigh, "Even Bork the Bold only observing their way of attacking and a warning that they are extremely dangerous creatures who need to be killed on sight".

"I really want to rewrite everything in it." Fishlegs said with a shake of his head, he then looked at Hiccup with excitement clearly written on his face, "Tell me everything you know about dragons, I want to write it down to make a new Book of Dragons".

Hiccup chuckled and nodded, "I will tell you and the rest all I know about dragons, tomorrow." He promised the bigger boy before looking at the both of them, "So, do you want to befriend a dragon?".

"I want to!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut exclaimed at the same time.

"Shh!" Hiccup shushed them up sternly, "Be quiet or the villagers will hear us." He hissed at them before motioning for them to come forward, "You two will share a Zippleback, meaning Barf and Belch." He told them quietly while waving the said Zippleback over, "Barf is the gas head and Belch is the spark head, decide it yourself".

Hiccup should know better than hoping the twins would decide without bickering with each other, but at least Barf and Belch solved the matter by them choosing who they want to partner up with, Barf bonded with Ruffnut while Belch bonded with Tuffnut. Getting Fishlegs bonded with Meatlug was very easy, they like each other even though Fishlegs was still a bit nervous and shy. The only problem was when he told Snotlout that he need to respect his Nightmare friend, the boy was having a difficulty respecting someone, but he started to show his respect after Hookfang burned his butt for trying to touch him without his consent before they even bond.

"This is great, Hiccup." Astrid said as she saw how everyone had bonded with a dragon, "We have the teens on our side now, if this continued, we might be able to convince the Chief".

Hiccup snorted at the idea of his Dad easily convinced, "To convince my Dad concerning dragons is an impossible task if I only talk with him." He said bitterly, "He never listen to me, Astrid, and even if he, by some miracle, will listen to me, he would still be stubborn about the dragons being mindless beasts." He looked at Astrid straight in the eyes, "If worst come to worst, I will have to challenge him to a duel just to make him listen to me".

"That bad?" Astrid asked in sympathy.

"Yeah." Hiccup nodded sadly, "But it's not really his fault. Gobber told me that it's because I looks like my Mother. It hurt my Dad so much when he lost her that he tried to be distant with me, so he won't hurt as much if he lose me as well".

Astrid opened her mouth to say something to soothe him but was cut off when the dragons stood up abruptly, "What happens?" She asked in worry when she saw the dragons entered their own pens in a hurry.

"One of the Vikings who is on watching duty is coming!" Hiccup hissed at them, "Help me close the door and hide! I will tell them that I had just finished feeding the dragons!".

They rushed to close the doors and then hid behind the weapon rack, it's hard because Fishlegs had a big body, but they managed to hide themselves.

"Are you in there, Hiccup?" Hoark's voice reached him, he looked behind him to see the man standing at the entrance, "What are you doing here this late?".

"Oh, you know, I'm the one in charge of feeding the dragons, so I was just feeding the dragons because I forgot to feed them earlier." Hiccup answered him as casually as he could with a smile on his face as he locked each pen, but he was a nervous wreck in the inside, he hoped the man wouldn't notice Snotlout's and the twin's weapons in front of the weapon rack or the fact that there's a bend sword on the floor. It helped him that he was saying the truth, he had just feeding the dragons because he forgot earlier, he just didn't tell the man that he also helped his friends befriends the dragons. "I will go home once I return the basket to the dock".

"I see." Hoark nodded in understanding before smiling at Hiccup as well, "Have a good rest, Hiccup, you need it after a busy day. Oh, I didn't have the chance to say this earlier, but thank you, lad. If it's not for you, I would be dead by now".

"You're welcome." Hiccup answered simply.

"You will become a great Chief in the future, Hiccup." The man answered before waving, "Good night!".

"Good night!" Hiccup replied before the man disappeared from view, he sighed and called his friends out, "Come on, let's get out of here." He suggested as he picked up the baskets.

"Yeah, I agree." Fishlegs said in agreement, "I think I'm going to fall asleep any second now".

They voiced their agreement as they left the arena, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins left to their home immediately, but Astrid walked with Hiccup to his house. "Astrid, there's a change of plan." Hiccup said apologetically, "It's late, you need to rest".

"But you need to rest as well." Astrid argued with a frown.

"Yeah, but I won't sleep in my room tonight, I'm going to sleep at the Cove with Toothless." Hiccup told the girl, "My Dad isn't home so it's not a problem. Besides, Toothless always stayed near me – I could feel his presence even if he was hidden – every time we have a raid in the past, so I'm going to sleep in the Cove tonight to ease his worry. Also, I want to get the test flight done first thing in the morning, I don't want to wait too long and risk my Dad coming home before I can successfully helping him back to the sky".

Astrid sighed and nodded, "Okay, I understand." She said with a smile before kissing him on his cheek, "Good night, Hiccup".

"Good night, Milady." Hiccup answered with a smile as well.

Astrid jogged a few steps before remembering something so she turned back to looked at Hiccup, "Before I forget, Hiccup, you will be fine during the test flight as long as you trust your instinct." She told him confidently, "Actually, you don't even need that thing you called cheat sheet, you know." She smiled at him again before continuing her jog to her home.

Hiccup watched his girlfriend go in confusion, wondering what she meant by that, but he shook his head and entered his house. He went to the kitchen to grab a few fishes then out them into the basket before going out of the house and head out to the Cove, he hoped the few fishes would be enough and his dragon brother wouldn't be starving.

Just as he predicted, Toothless tackled him to the ground as soon as he stepped into the Cove. "It's okay, Toothless, it's okay. I'm fine." Hiccup held back a wince as he said soothingly while rubbing Toothless's head as the dragon did his version of a hug, Hiccup could feel his dragon brother shaking as he was hugged tightly but carefully so he wouldn't get a broken bone from the hug, "You were scared, weren't you?" He asked softly as he hugged his dragon back, "You were always there for me during a raid, protecting me from the shadows so I won't get hurt during the raid, but now that you're trapped here, you couldn't be there for me. You were scared for me, weren't you." He said softly as he guessed what caused his dragon to be this scared, a memory then came to his mind, "Did you hear my scream?" He asked as he tried to look at his dragon brother, but Toothless had his eyes closed, "Is that why you're so scared? You heard my scream and thought that something had happened to me?".

During the raid, after Hiccup won his fight with the Nightmare, he saw a Zippleback stealthily making their way to Hoark as the man was fighting a Gronckle. From the look of it, the Zippleback had reach their shot limit because they were about to bite Hoark instead of blasting him with their fire. He had said that he didn't want anyone to die that night, so as soon as he saw the two heads of the Zippleback were about to bite Hoark, and the man couldn't protect himself because he focused on fighting the Gronckle, he jumped into action and blocked the attack.

Unfortunately, he could only block one of the heads with his connected rod, he didn't get the chance to disconnect them as he jumped to Hoark's rescue, and the other head bite him at his side. He had screamed in pain when he was bitten, luckily, Astrid wasn't that far from him when she heard his scream and came to help him out. They managed to fight off the Zippleback before deciding that it would be best for them to be together instead of separating themselves, so he and Astrid stayed together for the rest of the raid and fought alongside each other.

Toothless finally released him before nodding to answer his question, then his dragon nudged him with his head to see where he was injured, he guessed that his dragon brother could smell his blood. Hiccup understood this so he removed his fur coat and shirt to show his bandaged abdomen, but it seemed that removing the clothes wasn't enough for Toothless because the dragon tried to rip the bandages.

"You want me to remove the bandages?" Hiccup asked curiously at his dragon's behavior, Toothless nodded in answer so he obediently removed the bandages, wondering why Toothless wanted him to do that. Toothless saw his bite wound and growled in a mix of anger and worry before licking at the wound, much to Hiccup's confusion. "Toothless?" He asked as he tried to get away from his dragon, it tickled him when his dragon licked his wound and a bit stung because of the wound get touched, "What are you doing?" His answer was only a warning growl and a claw on his left shoulder, an action that Hiccup understood as an order to not move, so he sat still and let his dragon licked his wound.

While he waited until Toothless finished licking his wound, Hiccup was wondering why his dragon did it. He was sure that it wasn't because Toothless like the taste of blood, the action was more like a mother animal grooming their young. Hiccup frowned, he remembered that there's another situation that involved licking aside from grooming, he then blinked when he finally remembered it. "Oh." He said in realization, "Are you treating my wound, Toothless?" He asked his dragon in curiosity. Toothless pulled back a bit to nod before returning to his work, on the wound at his back side this time. "Thank you then." Hiccup said with a smile of gratitude, "But you really don't have to, you know, the healer had treat it earlier".

Toothless snorted and stared at him with a look that could be read as 'Just shut up and let me work', so Hiccup shut his mouth and just sat there waiting for Toothless to finished licking his wound with a smile on his face. Once Toothless finished, he patted on the bandages and shot a look at Hiccup, the boy get the hint and re-bandaged his abdomen then get his shirt and fur coat back on.

"Oh, I brought you dinner." Hiccup said once he finished getting his clothes back on, he poured the fishes out of the basket into a small pile in front of his dragon, "I'm sorry that I could only come now, I was busy helping the village, and I'm sorry that I only brought you a few of fishes, you know how the situation after a raid is".

Toothless crooned reassuringly at him with a nuzzle on the cheek before eating the few fishes Hiccup brought for him, Hiccup just sat there and watched as usual, but unlike usual, Toothless regurgitated a half of a fish onto Hiccup's lap as soon as he finished eating.

"What is this for?" Hiccup asked cautiously as he picked up the regurgitated fish, "I already explained that humans don't eat regurgitated fish, didn't I?" Toothless looked pointedly at the spot where Hiccup was bitten earlier before looking at the regurgitated fish, it's easy enough for Hiccup to translate the gesture to what his dragon was trying to say, "Are you trying to say that this fish is my punishment for getting injured because I wasn't careful?" He asked dreadfully, and his dread grew when Toothless nodded with a stern look on his face, he groaned and raised the fish to his face, "You're really mean, Toothless." He complained before forcing himself to bit into the regurgitated fish and eat it while trying his best not to throw up, all the while Toothless watched him with satisfaction and amusement in his eyes.

He really hoped he wouldn't get sick the next day.

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

* * *

Astrid was still sleepy when she woke up the next morning, but it was to be expected when you didn't get to sleep at night because of a raid and then woke up until late the very next day. "Morning, Mom." She greeted her Mother as she entered the kitchen to see her Mother prepared breakfast, which was a soup from the vegetation they picked up in the forest the day before and some bread that the cooks made, since the meat was kept for winter.

"Morning, Astrid." Keila greeted her before she places two bowls onto the table, then she went to the basket nearby and pulled two big apples before putting them beside the bowls.

"Is there a good news?" Astrid asked curiously as she saw her Mother's expression, "You looks happier".

"Mulch and Bucket saw a ship in the distance heading for Berk just before they returned to Berk earlier." Keila explained with a smile, "The Chief and the rest would return in a few hours".

Astrid's eyes widened, "Really?" She asked in surprise as her spoon halted just in front of her mouth.

"Yup!" Keila answered cheerfully, "The Chief come back in time to watch your final tomorrow! I'm sure you can win and get the right to kill the Nightmare!".

_Crap!_ Astrid froze with an uneasy smile on her face, she totally forgot about Dragon Training and what will happen if she won. If in the past she would get excited, now she could only feel dread as there's no way she could kill Hookfang, she **wouldn't** kill Hookfang.

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Gobber was at the dock with the rest of the Vikings at Berk, waiting for the ship which carrying Stoick and the others to dock. They could see that the ship was nearly destroyed, it was a miracle that the ship could carry that many Vikings on it. The ship docked and Stoick got off from the ship with a scowl on his face, it was clear that the search was a failure and they didn't find the Nest.

"Welcome back." Gobber greeted his best friend, "Where are the other ships?" He asked curiously.

"You don't want to know." Stoick answered bitterly as he walked with Gobber towards the village, he was oblivious to both of the pleasant and unpleasant surprise that would welcome him.

"Well, I trust you found the nest at least?" Gobber asked to try and lightened the mood.

"Not even close." Stoick answered with the same bitter tone from earlier, "How is the recruits?".

"Well, Astrid is winning so far, Snotlout only a bit behind her." Gobber answered casually, "The final is tomorrow, you come just in time to watch it".

"Hm, I can't wait." Stoick said with lighter mood, "Watching the competition between Astrid and Snotlout will surely lift our spirit after a failed search." He then stopped short and his eyes widened in shock at the sight that greeted him, many houses were in the process of repair while a few were being rebuilt. "What's happened here?" He asked as he turned to face the Blacksmith, demanding explanation of what had happened while he was away, "Why is the village in this condition?".

"Ah, you see, you chose a really wrong time to go hunting for the Nest this time, Stoick." Gobber began as he motioned to the partly destroyed village, "The dragons raided us while you were gone".

Stoick gasped in shock and horror, "How many died?" He asked fearfully, he would never forgive himself if his people died because he wasn't there to protect them.

"Ah, don't get panicked like that." Gobber said as he made a calming gesture with his hand and prosthetic, "Hiccup-" He didn't get to say more than the boy's name before Stoick grabbed his shoulders with his hands tightly, the Chief's gaze was burning with horror and disbelief.

"Please don't tell me he's gone." Stoick's voice was a mere whisper as he asked his friend, he didn't want to believe that his Son had gone, especially when he was away.

Gobber wore an 'are you kidding me?' expression before smacking his friend at the head with his good hand, "Do you really have that little confidence in your own Son?" He demanded in annoyance.

"Is he alright then?" Stoick asked in worry as he rubbed his head to ease the stung from Gobber's hit, "How is he? Did he get injured?".

"Congratulation, Stoick!" Gobber didn't get a chance to answer when Keila exclaimed in greetings, "Everyone is so relieved!".

"What?" Stoick asked in confusion.

"We really want to celebrate it, but we can't because we just got raided." Keila continued as if Stoick didn't ask anything, "We were afraid that we won't last, but Hiccup had handled the situation very well and we can survive this winter!".

"Hiccup?" Stoick asked in surprise.

"Yeah, you heard her." Gobber answered him, "The truth is, if it wasn't for Hiccup, you might not have a home to return to by now".

Stoick was even more confused now, his Son was known to cause destruction without knowing, not preventing it. "Tell me the details, Gobber." He said as he looked seriously to his friend, "Don't leave anything out".

And so, Gobber told Stoick the story of how Hiccup got rid of his unofficial title of Hiccup the Useless and live up to his official title of **Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans**. A really long name for a small boy, if you asked Gobber.

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While Gobber told Stoick what had happened when the Chief was away, Hiccup got his head up high in the clouds, literally.

"Okay, okay, we can do this." Hiccup said mostly to himself as he and Toothless were doing their test flight, meaning they were trying to fly high up in the clouds without getting themselves fall to their death, "Let's take this nice and slow, buddy".

Hiccup checked out the cheat sheet he clipped on the saddle, which had many different tail and pedal positions drawn on it, "Okay, let's try position three - no, four." He said to himself and pressed the pedal to change the tail fin into position.

_We're going to get in trouble if he keep going on like this_, Toothless thought as he grunted under his breath. If he could speak Norse, he would tell Hiccup to stop being so nervous, else the boy would make a mistake. Unfortunately, he couldn't, so he could only hope that everything would go well and nothing's going to happen, or if something happened, he hoped that Hiccup would snap out of it and just trust his instinct.

It was just their luck, really, because something **did** happen.

They had successfully dove under an arch and passed it, Hiccup was happy and he celebrated too early, which lead to him and Toothless smacked more than once into one of the sea stacks, which then causing Toothless to scold the boy by slapping one of his ear plates to the boy's face, they need to get the boy to focus on the flight or they would get in trouble.

"Alright, I'm on it, there's no need to slap me." Hiccup grumbled as he rubbed his abused cheek, "Okay, position four- eh, three".

They climbed up until they pierced the clouds, Hiccup stole a glance down and saw how the whole of the island below them became smaller and smaller for each second passed. Hiccup felt nervous yet excited at the same time, he gulped and looked up again as his grip on the saddle tightened.

The wind was so strong up there, ruffling his hair and brushing his face. The sensation was so wonderful being added with the fact that Hiccup was flying on a dragon, and not just his any dragon, but his dragon brother. "Yeah! Go baby!" He yelled out in excitement, "Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my-" His happiness and excitement turned to panic when he saw his cheat sheet came off because of the strong wind, "Cheat sheet! STOP!".

That's when **it** happened.

Hiccup reached out and managed to grab the cheat sheet before it got out of reach, but Toothless was startled when Hiccup yelled out 'stop' that he stopped flapping in reflex. Because Toothless stopped flapping, they slowed to a stop, which caused Hiccup's harness to unclasp and he got separated from Toothless.

It felt like time had stopped when Hiccup connected eyes with Toothless for a split instant, their eyes were wide and filled with shock, and the next second they found themselves falling uncontrollably.

"Oh, Gods! NO!" Hiccup cried out, fear and panic were the only things he felt as he watched his dragon fall in front of him, fearing for his brother-in-all-but-blood's life.

Hiccup was well aware of the fact that he was falling to his death as well, but he didn't care about himself at the moment, all his care was Toothless, he didn't want for his dragon to die because of him. He cursed himself for ever creating the Mangler, if he didn't create that stupid bola launcher then Toothless would still have his left tail fin, and they wouldn't be in a situation like this.

Toothless, on the other hand, was roaring in fear and panic not because he was possibly falling to his death, but because Hiccup was falling with him as well. He didn't care that he might die, but he didn't want for Hiccup to die as well. If there was a moment in his life when he needed his ability to fly the most, that second was the answer, he would need his ability to fly to save Hiccup. But the past was in the past, it's a fact that he had lost his ability to fly without Hiccup, and he wished with all his might that a miracle would happen and they could survive this fall.

Either the Gods were in a mood to answer Toothless's wish or it was destined to happen from the start, Hiccup somehow managed to get back to Toothless and attached himself to the saddle, and they pulled out of the dive. The danger has yet to pass though, because ahead of them was a forest made of sea stacks, and with their current speed, it would be impossible to avoid it. The only way out was to fly through it, the problem was the cheat sheet was flapping uselessly against the wind that Hiccup couldn't read it.

_Throw caution to the wind then_, Hiccup decided as he threw the cheat sheet away. Astrid told him that he would be fine as long as he trust his instinct and that he didn't need the cheat sheet in the first place, he didn't know if it's true, but he would find out now as he could only trust his instinct to fly them through the sea stacks.

Hiccup clicked the pedal following his instinct and leaned his body along with Toothless, they flew to the right, left, right, and left again before he clicked the pedal again and they spun in the air. Before they know it, they managed to do a tight and hair-raising series of split second turns, they passed the row of sea stacks and made it to the open water unscathed, together.

It was silent for a second as both human and dragon were trying to register that they had flown through a mass of sea stacks, with perfect sync between them that it felt like they have one mind, but once they did, a big grin bloomed on their face.

"YEAAAHH!" Hiccup howled to the sky in triumph as he shot his arms up.

Toothless, in his moment of excitement, squealed and shot out a fireball that exploded in front of them.

Hiccup's glee turned to dread as soon as he realized that they were going to fly directly into the explosion, "Ah, come on." He groaned in dry humor as his shoulder slumped.

XXXXX

"Stop laughing!" Hiccup yelled out in annoyance.

Astrid ignored him as she kept laughing her ass off until tears were flowing from her eyes while clutching her stomach with her hands, "Sorry, it- it's just-" She tried to say but was cut off but another round of laughing.

As soon as Hiccup and Toothless flew through the small explosion, they flew back to the Cove with the intention of waiting for Astrid to show the girl that Toothless could fly again with Hiccup's help, but when they saw the girl walking alone towards the Cove, they couldn't help but get a bit mischievous.

They dove and snatched the blonde Viking by the shoulders then carried her away, kicking and screaming for a bit, before they landed on what Hiccup called Black Sand Beach. As soon as they dropped Astrid and landed, the girl had turned around with all the intention to yell at them and even landed a few punches, but when the girl saw Hiccup's face and hair, she burst out laughing.

Hiccup sighed as he slumped against Toothless's side in defeat and just waited until Astrid finished her laugh, "Are you done laughing?" He asked once Astrid's laughter died down into a mere chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry." Astrid apologized before inhaling deeply then let the air out through her mouth slowly, "It's just your face and hair style are funny".

"Courtesy of Toothless." Hiccup grumbled unhappily.

Indeed, Hiccup's hair style and face were a bit funny looking at the moment, the outcome of flying through an explosion in high speed, his eyebrows were a bit singed and his hair was stuck in blown by the wind style.

"Okay, so . . ." Astrid walked over to him and sat beside him while leaning on Toothless's side, "I wanted to ask why you kidnapped me, but I think I already know the answer. You wanted to show me that you had successfully flying with Toothless, didn't you?".

Hiccup shot her a big grin, "You're right, Milady." He answered cheerfully, "And you also right about I don't need the cheat sheet to help Toothless fly".

"I told you." Astrid said smugly with a smirk on her face.

"How did you know it though?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Hiccup, I have been watching you and Toothless this whole time." Astrid explained to him in high spirit, "I had seen how you move in sync with Toothless, like when you were stuck with him that time. You move perfectly in sync with each other, so much that I nearly thought that you have one mind instead of two".

Hiccup was amazed that Astrid could notice it when he himself didn't, "Well, how about we get some lunch?" He offered after a moment of silence and staring contest.

"How?" Astrid asked curiously.

Hiccup gestured to Toothless and a small bag on the saddle in answer, earning a raised eyebrow from Astrid.

Half an hour later, they were sitting on the beach near a small camp fire while leaning on Toothless. Hiccup and Astrid were cooking their fishes over the fire while Toothless was slowly eating the pile of fishes in front of him, the Night Fury was proudly savoring fishes that he got by himself for the first time after a long time, taking his time with it as well as waiting so he could eat together with Hiccup and Astrid.

"That was an interesting way of fishing, stunning a school of fishes using plasma blast then scoop them up with a net." Astrid commented as she turned her fish over to cook the other side, "I bet this way is faster than using a boat".

"Yeah, we can see the fishes from the air too, it's easier than if you have to guess where the fishes are when you go fishing on a boat." Hiccup answered with a grin, "If we can sneak up tonight and somehow get Stormfly out from the arena without anyone watching, we can go fishing and get more stock for winter, no one will ask us if they don't know that it's our work".

Astrid's smiling face dropped as she remembered something, "I don't think we can, Hiccup." She said nervously.

"Why not?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Stoick and the others had returned earlier." Astrid answered seriously, earning a wide eyed look from Hiccup, "With them back, there are more people in the village and it will be hard for us to sneak around, especially tonight".

"And with what the people would say to him about my performance during the raid, he will surely want to speak with me tonight." Hiccup added with a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.

"We also have another problem." Astrid brought up grimly.

"What is it now?" Hiccup groaned as he got annoyed that they got another problem when all he wanted was to relax himself and spend time with Toothless.

"Dragon Training." Astrid answered as she stared at her fish, "With the way it is now, the final would be between me and Snotlout. We don't know what to do when they choose one of us to kill Hookfang, I can't do it and it's impossible for Snotlout to kill his own dragon".

Hiccup huffed and thought of what he should do best, "I will think of something." He said as he pulled his cooked fish from the fire, "Tell the others that I call for a meeting tonight at the arena, I will be there as soon as Dad finish his talk with me, whatever it is".

"Alright." Astrid answered with a relieved sigh, with Hiccup thinking about their next move, she believed that everything would be alright. Toothless suddenly turned so his head and regurgitated a fish head beside Hiccup, "Eew!" Astrid said in disgust, "What is he doing?".

"Punishment time." Hiccup answered dryly as he looked at Toothless, who nodded with a sly grin on his face.

"For what?" Astrid asked in confusion, she then gasped when Hiccup picked up the fish head, "Are you going to eat that?!".

"Well, this is Toothless's way of punishing me, regurgitating a fish then made me eat it." Hiccup explained as he stared at the fish head with dread, "The cheat sheet was blown by the wind earlier and I got unclasped from Toothless when I reach for it, we didn't need it in the end, but I think Toothless decide that I need to be punished for nearly getting us killed".

"You and your luck." Astrid said with a shake of her head, slightly amused that Toothless would punish Hiccup for his mistake like a protective parent. _Maybe that was the way Toothless see Hiccup, as his own youngling_. Astrid thought in amusement, "If you are going to eat it, do it somewhere I can't see you".

A few squawking sound reach them, they looked around and saw that a small group of Terrible Terrors flew towards them. The Terrors landed before making their way to the pile of fishes in front of Toothless, which was currently being hidden by the Night Fury using his paws and head as he growled at the approaching Terrors.

One of them grabbed the regurgitated fish head from Hiccup's hand and dragged it away, Hiccup silently thanked the Terror for saving him from having to eat the regurgitated fish head, before watching in amusement as another Terror attempted to steal it from the first Terror, earning a blast of fire from the first Terror.

Astrid was chuckling silently beside Hiccup before motioning for Hiccup to look at Toothless, they watched as Toothless looked confused when one of his fished leaving the pile before glaring when he saw a stealthy Terrible Terror was exposed as the thief. The pair of teens snickering as Toothless had a war of tug with the Terror for the fish, which didn't last long and Toothless came out as the winner, obviously. Toothless swallowed the fish before laughing tauntingly at the Terror, successfully irritating the Terror until it tried to fire at Toothless, who simply let out a small blast before the Terror could shoot. The gas inside the Terror backfired from Toothless's small blast into the little dragon, making the said Terror coughed up smoke and staggered away in defeat and pain.

Hiccup and Astrid laughed out loud at the sight, "Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" Hiccup commented as he threw his cooked fish to the defeated Terror, "Here you go".

The Terror swallowed the fish immediately before approaching Hiccup cautiously, Hiccup simply smiled as he watched the Terror curled up next to him before petting it slowly, earning a purr from the Terror as it proceed to sleep.

"This proved it, everything that the Vikings know about dragons is absolutely wrong." Astrid said softly but firmly as she petted one of the Terrors that came near her.

"Yeah, that's what you get for just assuming things instead of trying to find out the truth." Hiccup answered before his attention was taken by Toothless who laid his head on Hiccup's lap. The mighty Night Fury now looked at Hiccup with the cutest look he could make and crooned adoringly, earning a chuckle from Hiccup, "Calm down, I won't trade you for anyone." He said as he fondly rubbing Toothless's head.

"Aww." Astrid cooed with a grin on her face, "Is the mighty Night Fury jealous of a Terror?" She asked teasingly, which answered by Toothless with a slap to the face using his tail fins, but Astrid only moved the tail away with a laugh.

Hiccup laughed, "Careful, Astrid." He warned her with a big grin on his face, "I don't want you to hurt Toothless's big ego." He was the one got smacked with a pair of tail fins by Toothless.

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After spending some time on the beach, Hiccup took Astrid flying back to Berk and landed in the Cove, Astrid then returned to her home while Hiccup headed for the forge. He was sitting in his own workspace with his head laid on the desk, his finger playing with his charcoal pencil, pushing it up and waited for it to roll back down before pushing it again. He wasn't dazing off or daydreaming though, his mind was racing to find the best way to solve their problem with Dragon Training. So focused he was, he didn't notice that Stoick had entered the forge until his Dad at the doorway to his personal workspace.

"Dad!" Hiccup called out in surprise as he shot out of his seat and immediately picked up the papers on his desk, which contained the drawing of Toothless and all that he needed to help his dragon fly, such as the prosthetic tail fin and saddle. "Sorry, I didn't notice you." He forced a smile as he turned to his Dad, "Are you searching for me?" He asked right away.

"Oh, you knew?" Stoick asked with a stern expression, "Then are you going to admit to me that you've been hiding something from me?".

Hiccup's face paled immediately, "Wha- what?" He asked in confusion and slight panic, did his Dad know about his friendship with Toothless and the other dragons? He hoped not. "What are you talking about, Dad?" He asked just to confirm whether they were thinking about the same secret or not.

"You know that nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it." Stoick said with lowly, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Hiccup seriously.

"Oh?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow incredulously, "Really?" He had been keeping secrets and visited the dragons so many times, each time his Dad know nothing about it. So how come he could say that now? He was certain that his Dad was talking about different secret with the one concerning his friendship with the dragons, or his Dad wouldn't be so calm at the moment.

"Yeah, so . . ." Stoick then broke into a big grin, "Let's talk about that dragon." He said excitedly as he took a seat and looked at Hiccup expectantly.

_Crap, this is gonna take a long time._ Hiccup thought as he awkwardly leaned onto the wall, "Which dragon, exactly?" He asked softly.

"I heard it from Gobber, Hiccup." Stoick answered in good mood, "Tell me about the raids, I want to hear everything. Although Gobber told me most of it, he wasn't with you all the time, so I want to know what else happened".

"Oh, well." Hiccup shrugged nonchalantly, "You see, I and Astrid were just enjoying our time in the forest when we heard the horn, so we rushed back to the village." He began his story, trying to tell his Dad as much detail as possible without revealing his secret, while making sure to make it as short as possible since he had to meet up with the teens at the arena later.

Talking with his Dad for real for the first time in a long time was awkward, but Hiccup enjoyed it anyway, for it's rare for them to have a moment like that. He just hope he wouldn't completely destroy their relationship after Stoick knew about his friendship with dragons, there's nothing he could do about it though.

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To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

* * *

"Sorry, I'm late!" Hiccup whisper-yelled as he entered the arena.

"It's alright." Astrid reassured him with a smile, "What did the Chief want to talk to you about?".

"He wanted to hear what had happened during the raid, from my point of view." Hiccup answered as he looked around, noticing that all the teens were there and the doors to the pens were open, letting the teens to sit near their dragons. "Alright, I was hoping that I would have more time before my Dad's back, but since it's not the case, I will have to get to the plan now".

"What plan?" Snotlout asked nonchalantly, but there's a slight hope in his voice. The boy might didn't show it, but he cared about his Nightmare, so he was hoping for Hiccup to have a plan so Hookfang didn't have to be killed.

"The plan is to get the Vikings to see from our point of view, that the dragons aren't all bad." Hiccup explained as he motioned the dragons in the arena, "You have seen for yourself, they don't attack you because you don't attack them. We don't know why they attack us, but if the problem is because we are in their hunting grounds, then it's not their fault if they took something from us. I mean, our ancestors did drive the dragons away from this land when they first arrived, right?".

"How should we do it then?" Astrid asked curiously.

"By showing them the truth, that dragons aren't mindless killer beasts." Hiccup answered, "We can do it at the final. When you or Snotlout get chosen for the final, instead of killing Hookfang, you will show the Vikings that they don't have to kill dragons. All you need to do is touch Hookfang's nose with your hand, and when Hookfang don't attack you, they will see that dragons don't always go for the kill like what they always believe".

"Will that be enough though?" Ruffnut asked skeptically.

"Yeah." Tuffnut agreed to the question, "Vikings have stubbornness issue".

"If they are still stubborn about it, I will challenge my Dad into a duel for the position of the Chief. I think if I take over his position for a week, I can buy us some time." Hiccup answered seriously, "During this week, I will get Toothless to help me find out why the dragons are raiding us. Once I find out the source of our problem, I will solve it and end this stupid war. That way, the Vikings can't do anything but to accept the truth".

"What if they still refuse to accept the fact that we don't have to kill dragons?" Snotlout asked him in worry, "You know how it's an honor to kill dragons for the Vikings, they might refuse to accept that it's not an honor to kill the dragons".

"If it come to that." Hiccup looked at his friends seriously, "We will pack our most important belongings, take our dragons, and fly away from here. We will create our own tribe if needed, but we won't give up until we end this war".

"That's the spirit." Astrid said with a smirk before she kissed him on the lips, "Good plan, Dragon Boy. We will make sure that this war end in our generation, so our children will live an easier life than us now".

Hiccup smiled gratefully at her before looking at the rest, "All of you agree to the plan?" He asked as he held out his hand.

"I agree whole-heartedly." Astrid said firmly as she placed her hand on top of his hand.

"You are crazy, I like that." Ruffnut said as she placed her hand on top of Astrid's hand.

"I would like to join the fun." Tuffnut answered with a grin as he placed his hand on top of his Sister's.

"It will be scary, but I believe in you." Fishlegs said as he also placed his hand on top of their hands.

Snotlout added his hand on top of all their hands, "I never said this before, but you are the coolest Cousin in the world." He said with a grin.

Hiccup grinned back, "I'm your only Cousin, if you don't add my adopted dragon brother in." He said cheerfully before looking at all of the teens, "For the end of the war!" He stated with a confident smirk.

"For the end of the war!" They cheered as they threw their hands upward.

XXXXX

The next day, the arena was filled with the people who wanted to watch the final round of Dragon Training. Those who stayed behind when Stoick and the others went to search for the Nest was expecting Astrid to win, because they had seen how well her performance before, while the ones who went with Stoick couldn't wait to see who will win Dragon Training. All in all, they were excited to see the final.

"Who do you think will win, Spitelout?" Stoick asked his Brother, who stood beside him, as he watched Astrid and Snotlout entered the arena at the same time.

"I sure hope my Son will win." Spitelout answered with a frown, "But I have heard how Astrid could knock a dragon unconscious with her bare hands, so I'm a bit worried here".

Stoick laughed, "Astrid is really our best prodigy." He said in good mood before looking at his Son, who was sitting beside him, "What do you think, Hiccup? You were helping Gobber to train them, so I'm sure you know who has the best chance in winning".

Hiccup glanced as his Dad for a second before looking back to the arena, "Astrid has a bigger chance to win than Snotlout." He answered simply as he watched how Astrid and Snotlout nodded at each other before going to the opposite sides of the arena.

"Which dragon they will face today?" Spitelout asked him curiously.

"The Gronckle." Hiccup answered shortly, just a second before Meatlug entered the arena.

Earlier, he had told Meatlug that she just had to go to Snotlout after playing some show for the audience, his Cousin then would scratched her chin. They had decided that Snotlout would be the best choice to show that the dragons weren't dangerous. Snotlout was bonded with Hookfang, so even if Hookfang was spooked during the event, he wouldn't kill the boy. That's why he told Meatlug to go to Snotlout, so his chance of getting chosen would be bigger than if Astrid won.

From the look of it, Astrid was playing some act of her own, she would throw her axe to the Gronckle then jumped away when Meatlug would shot at her. Of course, both of them were missing their target on purpose. Then, Snotlout threw his club just in front of Meatlug, and that was the sign that they chose to let Meatlug know that it was time for her to go to the boy.

Just as planned, Meatlug turned her attention from Astrid to Snotlout, then she make a bee line towards the boy. Astrid, seeing the opportunity, let out a battle cry so the crowd's attention would be on her. While the other Vikings turned their attention towards the girl, Snotlout immediately scratched Meatlug's chin to find out where her pressure point was. Once he found it and scratched it, Meatlug dropped to the ground and moaning in bliss.

The whole arena broke into a loud cheer as soon as Meatlug dropped in front of Snotlout's feet.

"That's my boy!" Spitelout cheered, "Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!".

"Alright!" Stoick stood up as he addressed the whole cheering audience, "Be quiet for a bit! Gothi has decided the winner!".

Hiccup watched as Gobber pointed his hook above Snotlout, he held his breath as he hoped that Gothi would choose the boy, but Gothi shook her head. _Crap!_ He cursed in his mind, he should know that just winning three rounds of Dragon Training wasn't enough to get Snotlout chosen, not when Astrid already won 5 rounds.

Sure enough, when Gobber raised his right hand above Astrid, Gothi nodded and smiled in answer.

The whole arena broke into a loud cheer, all of them either congratulating Astrid's mother or Astrid herself. All of them were excited, except for the teens, they were worried because it would be harder for Astrid to handle the situation if Hookfang got spooked when the girl tried to touch him.

XXXXX

"Hiccup! What should we do now?!" Astrid asked as she was pacing around the Cove, her mind racing to think of what she should do when it was time for her to fight Hookfang.

Hiccup and all of the teens were meeting there, so that they could discuss about what to do next without any of the adults know, and so that Astrid didn't have to get swarmed by her fans.

"Calm down, Astrid." Hiccup tried to stop her from pacing, but she kept going.

"I can't calm down!" Astrid said in frustration, "I will have to face Hookfang! I know he will let me touch his muzzle in a normal situation, but in the event when I'm expected to kill him? His mind will be clouded by all the noise the other Vikings made!".

"I know, I know, but panicking and stressing won't solve your problem." Hiccup said as he finally used his strength to force Astrid to stop pacing, he turned the girl around so she would looked at him in the eyes, "Inhale deeply and calm yourself first, then think of how you will change their opinion about dragons." Astrid looked at Hiccup uncertainly but nodded and inhaled deeply to calm herself, "Good." Hiccup smiled and nodded in approval, "Now, how about a flight to clear your mind?" He offered as he motioned to Toothless, who was watching silently the whole time.

"Hey, not fair!" Ruffnut protested.

"We want to fly too!" Tuffnut protested too.

"Ah." Hiccup sweat dropped as he finally remembered that the other teens were there too, "Alright then, you all wait here while I go to the arena." He told them as he walked to the entrance of the Cove, "I will sneak Stormfly out so we can go flying, three teens for a dragon." He looked at his dragon Brother, "You can carry three of us, right, Brother?".

Toothless snorted in answer. Who did Hiccup think he was? Of course he could handle carrying three small teens like them. He nodded his head, nonetheless.

"Good." Hiccup nodded before continuing his walk, "Make sure the trio behave themselves while I'm gone!" He yelled once he was out of the Cove.

"Hey!" Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut exclaimed in indignation.

"You heard him." Astrid said with a smirk, while Fishlegs and Toothless chuckled at them.

"But, is he going to be alright?" Fishlegs asked once he stopped chuckling, gaining the attention of the others, "It's still day time and he's going to sneak a dragon as big as a Nadder out, what if he's found?".

Astrid put her left hand on her hip, "I'm worried about him too, but the only thing we can do right now is believe that he's going to be alright." She said with a resigned smile.

"Oh, come on!" Ruffnut groaned, "Don't be so worried like that!".

"Yeah, this is Hiccup we are talking about!" Snotlout exclaimed, "If there's one thing I know about Hiccup, that I have known from long ago, it's that Hiccup is a crazy genius!".

"Right!" Tuffnut nodded in agreement, "Because he is a crazy genius, as long as he does something crazy, he will success!".

"Not if he did something stupid though." Fishlegs countered in worry, "Sneaking a dragon out during day time is a stupid thing to do".

"No, Fishlegs." Astrid grinned at him, "It's under crazy category".

"As I said earlier, he is a crazy genius." Snotlout said smugly with his arms crossed.

"So, as long as he does something crazy-" Tuffnut joined in with his arms crossed as well, looking smug.

"There's nothing that can stop him." Ruffnut finished smugly with her hands on her hips, "That's why, he will success".

Fishlegs stared blankly at them, "I guess, I will just have to hope that what he is doing right now is a crazy thing and not a stupid thing." He said with a worried sigh, wondering how his friends could be so confident about it.

Toothless snorted at them and shook his head. _Humans are just so strange_, he thought before he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

He narrowed his eyes and sniffed the air. His eyes narrowed even more when he found that it wasn't Hiccup, they were the other Vikings, and he recognized their scent. One of them was the woman whom he often saw in Astrid's house, which means that it was her mother coming. While the other was the man he often saw spending time with Hiccup in the forge, which means that the man was Gobber, Hiccup's mentor in blacksmithing.

_This is bad_, Toothless thought as he looked at the teens, who were oblivious of the approaching Vikings at the moment. He couldn't let himself be seen with the teens, because that would only spell trouble for the teens, so he had to hide himself. He looked around the Cove before seeing the rock formation he had used to cover himself when Astrid came into the Cove for the first time, he couldn't be seen from the entrance of the Cove, so it would do for now.

"You are just too pessimistic, Fishlegs." Astrid said to the boy before noticing something, she looked around and blinked, "Where's Toothless?" She asked in confusion.

"I don't know." Ruffnut answered nonchalantly, "Maybe he's hungry so he went fishing".

"He is not at the lake, Ruff." Astrid told her exasperatedly.

"Who is this 'He'?"

A voice asked suddenly, causing them to jump in surprise and turned around. Standing behind them were Gobber and Keila, and both of them were looking at the teens curiously.

"Mom! Gobber!" Astrid gasped in disbelief, "How did you find this place?!".

"What? Is this your hideout or something?" Keila asked curiously as she looked around.

"We were searching for you and Hiccup." Gobber answered Astrid's question, "We know that you often go to the forest together to train, so we went to the forest to find you. We didn't know where you are but we heard your voices from here, so we came here".

The teens were dripping with sweat as they didn't know what to do.

"Uh . . ." Astrid was thinking of what to say but didn't find anything.

"Why are you searching for Astrid and Hiccup, Gobber?" Fishlegs asked nervously while trying not to look suspicious.

"Oh, right!" Keila exclaimed before pulling Astrid into a hug, "Congrats, my girl! I know you can do it!".

"Uh, thanks." Astrid answered uneasily.

"Aside to congratulate you, we're here with an order for Hiccup from Stoick." Gobber informed them, "Stoick doesn't want anything to go wrong, you see, so he wants Hiccup to give you a special training. Many of us had seen how Hiccup can go one on one with a Nightmare during the last raid, so Stoick thinks that he can train you personally." He then looked away and grumbled, "I don't know why he doesn't trust my training method".

All of the teens were laughing nervously at his last sentence, it's obvious why the Chief wouldn't trust Gobber's training method. Sure, they could kill the other type of dragons now, because they had been training with those dragons for a while, but they never trained with a Nightmare. If they never fought a Nightmare before, how could they know how to kill a Nightmare when they never trained against one? Not that they wanted to kill dragons anymore.

"Isn't that great, Astrid?!" Keila asked enthusiastically, "With Hiccup training you personally, you will kill that Nightmare in no time!".

"No one kill my Hookfang!" Snotlout yelled angrily, forgetting who he was talking to for a second, before clamping his mouth shut with his hands as he finally remembered.

_Oh, crap!_ All the teens cursed at once in their head.

" 'Your Hookfang'?" Gobber asked in confusion, "We are talking about the Night . . .mare . . ." His eyes widened as he connected the pieces, "Beard of Thor!".

Keila came to the same conclusion as well and widened her eyes, "You- you named a dragon?!" She asked in disbelief.

The teens were panicking now. "Mo- Mom! Please don't-" Astrid began to say but was cut off by her Mother.

"Are you in this as well?!" Keila demanded angrily, "You're siding with dragons?!" The teens were paled as they didn't know what to say anymore, and the two Vikings took their pale face as confirmation, "I can't believe you, siding with your Father's killer." She huffed before turning around to leave, followed right away by Gobber with a shake of his head.

"Pi- pin them down!" Astrid yelled out loud in panic as she tackled her own Mother.

Ruffnut immediately went to help Astrid to keep Keila on the ground, while the boys tackled Gobber to the ground.

"Let me go!" Keila said indignantly.

"What's with this!" Gobber yelled as he got pinned by the boys.

Even though Keila and Gobber were adults while Astrid and the rest were teenagers, they managed to pin the two Vikings to the ground. The teens were raised to be Vikings too, after all, so of course they were strong enough to match an adult's strength.

"Sorry." Fishlegs apologized nervously but didn't let go of Gobber, "But we can't let you go".

"Tuffnut! You block the exit, just in case!" Astrid ordered as she fought to keep her Mother down.

"Uh, the job is taken already." Tuffnut answered as he looked at the exit.

They all looked at the exit as well and saw a black dragon guarding the exit, with a bored expression on his face. The teens were relieved to see that Toothless had blocked the exit, while the two adults were gaping in disbelief.

"Astrid!" Keila exclaimed angrily, "Let me go! There's a dragon there! We need to kill it!".

"Oh, you won't kill him." Astrid answered with an uneasy grin, "Hiccup will be furious if you kill his adopted brother".

"**Adopted** **brother**?!" Gobber demanded in disbelief, "Has he gone nuts?!".

"No, I'm not." Hiccup's voice rang from above them. They looked up to see that the said boy was looking down at them with a frown, while sitting on top of a hovering Nadder.

"Hiccup!" Astrid and Fishlegs exclaimed in relief, because Hiccup would know what to do in this situation.

"Really." Hiccup said with a sigh as he guided Stormfly to land in front of the group of teens and Vikings, "I was wondering what the commotion was about".

"Hiccup!" Gobber yelled in worry and fear, "What are you doing sitting on that dragon?! Get away from it!".

"**Her** name is Stormfly and **she** is my dragon." Astrid told him angrily, no one insulted her dragon and get away with it.

"Your dragon?" Keila asked with gaping mouth.

"Yes." Astrid answered simply, "What should we do now, Hiccup?" She asked him without releasing her Mother.

"Well, first thing first . . . Can anyone tell me what had happened while I went to get Stormfly?" Hiccup asked as he climbed down from Stormfly's back, "I can't make a good decision without knowing what is happening".

"Well, they came to congratulate Astrid and give you an order from the Chief." Fishlegs answered, "But then Snotlout yelled that no one kills his Hookfang".

"Well, I forgot alright." Snotlout tried to defend himself, "I got angry so I just yelled without thinking".

Hiccup looked at the two still gaping adults, "Release them." He said calmly, "If we want them to listen to our explanation, this is not the way. Release them and we will explain everything, if they don't want to listen to our explanation then we just have to make them listen".

The teens looked at each other before releasing the two adults, Keila and Gobber stood up while brushing their clothes. "There's no explanation to this." Keila said angrily, "You are siding with dragons. You are our enemies".

"We are not your enemies!" Astrid protested, "We just know more about dragons than you!".

"Oh, and what is it?" Keila challenged her.

"Dragons are gentle creatures if they aren't attacking, we don't have to kill them to end this war." Astrid said confidently.

"Yes." Fishlegs said in agreement, "If you will just try to get to know them, you will see for yourself".

Keila's and Gobber's eyes widened as another voice rang in their mind, as someone had once said something similar to them long ago.

_[We don't have to kill them! We just need to get to know them! That way we can end this war!]_

"Valka . . ." Both of them whispered sadly, with longing could be heard clearly in their voices.

"Valka?" Hiccup asked with a blink of his eyes, "Isn't that my Mother's name?".

"Yes." Keila said softly, "She was my best friend before she was taken by a dragon." She then looked at Hiccup sharply, "She believed that we don't have to kill dragons, but look at what had happened to her. There's no way around this, Hiccup".

"How can you be so certain?" Hiccup asked calmly, "Are these dragons not attacking us while we speak?" He motioned to Stormfly and Toothless, "You don't attack them, and they don't attack you. This war can be ended without bloodshed, if only you will give it a try".

"You don't know what you are talking about, Hiccup, stop now before you're too late." Gobber told him, "One or two dragons might be odd enough to not attack, but the rest will kill you. If Stoick lose you too, he will break".

"Oh, will he?" Hiccup asked coldly, as anger suddenly filled his being hearing that statement, "Tell me, Gobber. If he cares about me, why would he turn his back on me just because I don't want kill dragons? He is the Chief, what he does, the villagers follow. He set the example of treating me like a nuisance, so when the others see this, they followed him and treating me like a nuisance as well. If he cares about me, why doesn't he train me to fight like how the other parents train their children? The other parents will still train their children to fight, so they can protect themselves and this village, regardless of what kind of trouble they did before." He then let out a bitter laugh, "Do you know who teach me how to fight, Gobber? Who teach me how to fishing? How to cook and hunt? Do you know who teach me how to take care of myself? Who teach me basically all the knowledge I need if I want to survive in a harsh land like Berk? Do you?".

Gobber, Keila, and the teens fell into silence. Even Toothless and Stormfly were silent as well. They were looking at him silently as they didn't know the answer, safe for Toothless who had known Hiccup for a long time now.

"Answer me. Do you know, Gobber?" Hiccup asked Gobber coldly.

"No, I don't know." Gobber answered shamefully.

Now that Hiccup mentioned it, none of the Vikings know how Hiccup could do all that. Sure, Gobber taught him about being a blacksmith, but that was the only knowledge he gave Hiccup. None of the other Vikings taught him anything, they were practically abandoned him as soon as he said that he didn't want to kill dragons. Not all of the villagers hate Hiccup, but they didn't teach him anything either. Even if Astrid and Fishlegs didn't abandon him and still acknowledged his presence, being kind to him while the others didn't, they still didn't teach Hiccup anything because Hiccup could already do everything that they could do. It was really a wonder that Hiccup survived this long on his own.

"Dagur and Camicazi." Hiccup told them coldly, "Dagur and Camicazi were the ones who taught me everything I know, safe for blacksmithing. Dagur taught me all about survival skill and how to fight, with Camicazi helping him to train me, but she also taught me anything else I want and need to know." He balled his hands into fists to hold his anger, "And Stoick, my own Father? He doesn't teach me anything. He doesn't talk to me even once without that disappointed scowl of him until people told him that I fought with a Nightmare!" He finally couldn't hold it back anymore and snapped at them, he inhaled deeply to regain some composure, "You are the one who don't know what you are talking about." He continued with a hiss.

"Hiccup." Astrid said sadly as she raised her hand to touch him, but Toothless beat her to it as he nuzzled Hiccup's chest and crooned softly.

Hiccup looked down at Toothless and saw how his brother looked at him with concern. "I'm alright, Toothless, just lost my cool for a bit there." He said with a smile as he rubbed Toothless's head with his hands, grateful for his dragon's concern, "I'm alright now. The past is in the past, I don't bother myself with their treatment to me anymore, now that I have you and our friends".

They watched Hiccup and Toothless for a moment, the teens was watching them in sympathy while the adults in shame, before Astrid broke the silence.

"Do you know what kind of dragon Toothless is, Mom?" Astrid asked her Mother seriously, who shook her head in answer, "Toothless is a Night Fury".

"A Night Fury?!" Keila and Gobber asked in shock.

"Yes, you heard her right." Snotlout was the one who answered them, " 'The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself' cares for Hiccup more than we ever were".

"The Book of Dragons said that our only chance is hide and pray he doesn't find us." Fishlegs added, "Hiccup doesn't hide nor pray, but Toothless didn't kill him. He even saved Hiccup's life and has always been there for him, while we were never there for him".

"You told us that dragons always go for the kill, but they don't." Astrid repeated what she had told them, "They are gentle creatures, even gentler than Vikings".

"All you know about dragons . . ." Ruffnut began but was finished by Tuffnut, "Is wrong".

The teens watched as the two adults fidgeting in place, it looked like Keila and Gobber didn't believe them yet. Actually, they were wavering already, but they just didn't want to believe that they were wrong all this time. Hiccup could see this, so he let out a long sigh, which gained him everyone's attention. "You still don't believe us, even with the proof standing right in front of your eyes." He said sadly, "It seems that there's nothing we could do that will convince you." He shook his head before walking away from the two adults, with Toothless on his side.

"So, what should we do, Hiccup?" Astrid asked him as she caught up with him along with Fishlegs, as the rest were watching the adults to make sure they wouldn't run off, "If we let them go back to the village, they will tell the rest that we are siding with dragons".

"Keeping them here is impossible though." Fishlegs told them quietly, "People will notice their absence and they will search for them, Toothless won't be safe here anymore".

"We can't convince them, no matter what we do, so we won't." Hiccup answered them calmly, "It's seems that all my plan always go wrong, huh. We can't show the Vikings the truth, so we will leave Berk and start over at another place." He smirked at them, "We won't give up until this war is over, will we?".

Astrid and Fishlegs smiled at him before nodding in agreement. "Should we leave now?" Astrid asked him curiously, but she was excited for an adventure on the inside.

"We can each take turn to pack our stuffs and meet here, while the rest guarding Mrs. Hofferson and Gobber." Fishlegs suggested.

"No, we will wait before we go tonight, we still need to get Meatlug and the rest from the arena." Hiccup told them seriously as he looked at the sky, he could tell that it's only an hour or two left until night time. "I can go sneak them out one by one, but it will take too much time and too risky as well." He then looked at his friends, "I'm sorry, Astrid, but we have to tied and gag your Mother here, along with Gobber".

"Tying my Mother is one thing, but gagging her too?" Astrid asked with an uneasy frown.

"They both have strong voice, you know, our position will be found if they yell loudly enough." Hiccup explained to her, "Or would you rather have me knocking them unconscious?".

"No, we will go with the gag." Astrid decided, as she didn't want Hiccup to hit her Mother and Gobber.

"Alright then." Hiccup nodded in agreement, "Let's tie them up and make sure they can't scream".

"Hiccup, you make it sound like we're going to kidnap them or something." Fishlegs said with a sweat drop.

Hiccup blinked, "I guess you are right." He said before they broke into chuckles.

"Let's just get to work." Astrid said before they walked back to the others, "Sorry, Mom, I can't let you go out of here just yet." She apologized, earning a confused look from the others, "You won't believe us, so we won't bother trying with the other villagers, but you will have to wait until night time before you can go out of this place".

"What do you mean?" Keila asked suspiciously.

"She means this, Mrs. Hofferson." Hiccup answered before tying her up against one of the tree using a rope with Snotlout's help, and then covered her mouth with a cloth that he tied behind her head, while the others worked to do the same with Gobber.

It's not as easy as it sounded though, the two Vikings put up a fight as if they were fighting an enraged dragon. Thankfully, Fishlegs and Snotlout were the strongest among the teens, and their strength could rival an adult, so they get the job done finely enough.

"Guys, you go first." Hiccup told the teens quietly once they finished, "I and Astrid will guard them with Toothless and Stormfly. Pack the most necessary stuffs and your important belonging that you want to bring with you, but not too much that they will catch people's attention".

"Make sure you write a letter for your family, so that they will know that we aren't kidnapped or anything like that." Astrid added to them.

"Oh, right." Hiccup remembered something, "My Dad has a strong intuition, so try to avoid him, and if you ever get caught by him, just pretend that you're up to a mischief and not planning to leave Berk".

Once that said, the teens left to pack their belongings. Their time limit was an hour because Astrid and Hiccup still had to pack their own stuffs, so they hurried to do as they planned. Then once they returned, Hiccup and Astrid left to get their own belongings. It was harder for Hiccup because his Dad paid him more attention after his success, but Stoick was still a busy Chief, so he managed.

Once they finished packing their stuffs, Astrid went back to the Cove right away while Hiccup went to get the dragons first. He got an easy pass because he was in charge of feeding the dragons, he just pretended that he forgot to feed them earlier, but it was harder to sneak them out of the arena. He made sure that no one was around before opening the cages, then he get them out of the arena silently. Once out, he climbed on Meatlug while Sharpshot get on his shoulder, before leading them to fly down the cliff where the arena was on, then they flew around the Isle of Berk just a bit on top of the sea surface until they got to the other side of the Island. From there they flew to the Cove where everyone was waiting for them.

"We are deeply sorry for this, Mrs. Hofferson, Gobber." Hiccup apologized to them once they were all ready to go, "We can't let you stop us, but we will let you go soon, so don't worry".

The two only glared at him in answer, not hatefully, but with annoyance. They were kinder than most people in Berk, so they wouldn't hate children, especially someone they cared so much. Keila was Astrid's Mother while Gobber already thought of Hiccup like his own son, so they were mostly annoyed than anything else. They were annoyed of their treatment and annoyed that the children wouldn't listen to them, they were worried for their safety as well, so they glared to convey their feelings.

"We will leave Berk tonight." Hiccup continued with a sad smile, earning a wide eyed look from them, "We want to end this war through our own way, and we made it to be our mission, so we won't stop until we achieve it. We can't convince the people of Berk, so we will start somewhere else with less stubborn people".

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I won't kill dragons, I don't want to anymore." Astrid said apologetically, "You might not understand why we go to this length for this right now, but I'm sure you will understand in the future".

"Gobber." Hiccup said to his mentor, "If my Dad really cares about me and get sad after I left, please give this to him." He said as he placed a folded paper on the ground in front of the man, "I'm sorry that I will leave you. You know that I love you like I do my Dad, so please understand that I have to do this".

Gobber and Keila tried to call Hiccup's and Astrid's names, but the cloth muffled them. Hiccup smiled sadly before looking at the teens and nodded at them, who nodded back at him before climbing on their own dragons. Hiccup pulled out a dagger from his boot, a bit rusty because he had thrown it into the lake in the past, before he cut the rope tying Gobber's hands together. He dropped the dagger beside Gobber, so the man could free Keila later, before running to Toothless, then climbing onto the saddle with practice ease before they took off to the sky with the others.

"I love you, Mom!" Astrid yelled just before they were out of hearing range.

They circled the island once, to memories everything, before they left without looking back. They flew away from Berk, away from their friends and family, and away from their home. They weren't sad though, because they knew that they would return one day, after they fulfilled their mission to end the way between the dragons and the Vikings.

"Where are we going, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked not long after they left Berk.

"For now, we will search for an empty island to rest." Hiccup informed his friends, "We will discuss where we will start our mission in the morning, when our heads clear after a good night rest".

"Oh! I know the perfect place!" Astrid said happily, "Remember when I go on a trip with my Mother three years ago?".

"The one when you get caught in a storm and then stuck on an island before Trader Johann passed by?" Ruffnut asked curiously.

"Yes, that one!" Astrid confirmed excitedly, "The Island is a bit small, so there isn't a village in there. We'll be safe there".

"But if your Mother remembers the Island, she can guess that we are heading there." Fishlegs pointed out, "What if she decided to search for us?".

"She's alone while there are 6 of us here, there are also 6 dragons with us if we count Sharpshot in." Snotlout said easily, "We outnumbers her, so we can just chase her off".

"Hey, this is my Mother we are talking about." Astrid protested.

"Well, we can't stay on that Island for a long time, we are bound to be found **if** they decided to go after us." Hiccup commented to stop them from bickering with each other, "Doesn't mean we can't stay there for a few days though. We are riding dragons, remember? We travels faster than them since they're sailing on ships, so staying on the island for a few days is alright".

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Tuffnut asked out loud.

"Lead the way, Astrid." Ruffnut finished her twin's words.

"This way." Astrid said before nudging Stormfly to fly in the direction of the island.

The flight to the island Astrid mentioned was filled with silence, the teens were too amazed by the scenery they saw from the air to talk. Hiccup had been flying with Toothless before, but he was still amazed by the breathtaking view. The silence only broke when Toothless crooned softly to Hiccup, which gained the boy's attention right away.

"What is it, Toothless?" Hiccup asked curiously. Toothless looked up at the clouds above them before looking at Hiccup expectantly, Hiccup caught the message right away. "Do you want to go above the clouds?" He asked his dragon, which was answered with a purr by Toothless. "I wonder what's up there . . ." He whispered to himself before looking at his friends, "Guys, we're going above the clouds!" He told his friends before adjusting the prosthetic tail fin into a climbing position, and they shot up to the clouds right away. Hiccup and Toothless flew through the clouds until they break through it, and once they did, Hiccup was amazed by the view of the Northern Lights. "Amazing." Hiccup whispered in awe.

It seemed that he wasn't the only one who went above the clouds, because soon after he whispered the word, he heard multiple gasps of awe from behind him. "So cool." Snotlout breathed out in awe as well, soon followed by the rest, as they all watched the Northern Lights danced beautifully.

"From now on, we can see this amazing view whenever we want." Hiccup said with a smile on his face as he flew higher until he and Toothless were bathing in the lights, he looked behind to his friends and saw that they were following his action. "We have our dragons now, we can fly up here every night if we want".

The teens all smiled at each other to show their agreement. "One day . . ." Astrid began softly as she enjoyed the amazing view around them, "Once we end the war, we can show this amazing view to our family as well".

Hiccup looked at her and smiled, he opened his mouth to say his agreement when he felt Toothless tensed suddenly. "Toothless?" He asked in concern as he turned his attention to his dragon, "What's wrong?".

Toothless's answer was to prepare for a dive, so Hiccup adjusted the tail and they dove into the clouds. The rest of the dragons followed suit, and the teens were confused of their dragon's behavior. "What's happening, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked worriedly once they were out of the clouds.

"I don't know, Fishlegs . . ." Hiccup trailed off as he noticed something, he looked below them and saw a group of dragons flying to their north left while carrying live stocks. _The raiding dragons?_ Hiccup asked himself as he looked ahead to see where the dragons were heading, and he wanted to kick himself once he saw the fogged area. They were raiding dragons, so of course they would return to their Nest. Hiccup looked at the dragons below them before an idea entered his mind, he looked up to his friends and motioned for them fly in a circle so he could talk better with them. "Guys, there's a flock of dragons below. All of them were carrying live stocks, so I think they just returned from a raid." He told them as he looked down again, "You all wait here, I'm going to follow them".

"Why would you want to do something like that?!" Astrid hissed at him, but her expression showed that she was worried for him.

"We want to find out why the dragons raids us, right?" Hiccup asked them rhetorically, "If my guess is right, then the reason of why they keep raiding us will be at the Nest, so I will follow them and find out why they keep raiding us".

"I'm going with you." Astrid said seriously, her tone daring him to object her.

"Astrid, it might be dangerous." Hiccup reasoned to her, "Toothless is the fastest here, he could get me away safely if something happened, but Stormfly isn't as fast as Toothless".

"Then I'm going with you on Toothless as well, I will ride behind you like last time." Astrid retorted, and when Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, she pointed to the retreating dragons, "We need to hurry or we will lose them".

Hiccup let out a frustrated sigh before nodding, Astrid then get Stormfly to fly above them before she jumped, landing gracefully on Toothless back before settling herself behind Hiccup. He then dropped his bag, where he kept his stuffs, onto Hookfang's back since he was the largest. "The rest of you, find somewhere to land and waited for us there." He commanded them before looking at Stormfly, "Stormfly, you go with them." He told the dragoness before flying after the retreating dragons without another words.

Hiccup and Astrid stayed quiet as Toothless hastened his pace until he flew in the middle of the flock, then he slowed down to make sure that they would stay within the flock. They continued to fly until they could see an island ahead of them, and then they followed the rest of the dragons to enter the volcano on the fog covered island. Toothless then brought Hiccup and Astrid to a hidden place, so they could observe what was going on without catching the attention of the other dragons.

"It's satisfying to know that all of our foods are dumped down a hole." Hiccup grumbled sarcastically as he saw the dragons dropped the live stocks into a glowing red hole below.

"That doesn't make sense, they aren't eating any of it." Astrid whispered as well as she observed what was going on in the Nest.

"Yeah." Hiccup whispered back in agreement, "I mean, they risked their live to get the live stocks, so why-" His words were cut off when they heard a loud growl from the glowing hole, just after a Gronckle regurgitated a fish into the hole. He was worried when he heard that, the growl was so loud that he wondered what made it, and his concern grew when he felt Toothless grew even more tense by the second. He didn't have to wait long to get his answer, because a second later, a huge head came out from the hole and swallowed the Gronckle whole.

**"What _is_ that?"** Astrid hissed as she stared at the monster in front of them fearfully, her hands were shaking as she gripped Hiccup's fur coat tightly.

Hiccup gulped as he looked at the enormous head. "Whatever it is, it's bad news." He hissed back before nudging Toothless, "We need to get out of here, Brother." He whispered as he watched the monster sniffed at their direction, and when the head was about to eat them whole, he cried out, "Now!".

Toothless shot up to the air just before the head clamped it's jaws shut at the spot they were on previously, then they flew up to the mouth of the volcano to get away from the monster, protected by the hundreds of dragons who were flying alongside them. Hiccup looked back when he heard a pained roar, and his heart clenched when he saw that the monster had gotten a Zippleback in it's jaws, holding the two headed dragon by their wings before swallowing them whole just like how it swallowed the Gronckle whole earlier.

He gritted his teeth as he looked forward again, his eyes filled with pain as he remembered the Zippleback. He was sure that the two headed dragon was eaten because they were in the way of the monster when the monster was about to eat Toothless, along with Hiccup and Astrid. The Zippleback had given up their life to protect Toothless and the two Vikings, Hiccup knew that because the position of the Zippleback was right behind them, flying in the way of the monster's jaws, the Zippleback died to let them stay alive. Hiccup's heart clenched painfully as he thought about it, he was grateful for the Zippleback but he was sad for their death, and hatred flared wildly as he remembered the monster.

They flew out of the volcano and headed out to where their friends were waiting for them immediately, both the teens and the dragon were silent as they flew. Astrid was still shaken by the whole encounter, while Toothless was concerned over his human Brother – he could practically felt the fury radiated from his rider, and Hiccup himself was too furious to speak. It took them a while to find their friends, since they had landed somewhere and they needed to track their friends down. They found their friends on top of some sea stacks and landed on an empty spot, gaining their friend's attention right away.

"You're back!" Fishlegs called out in relief, but then the relief changed into concern when he saw Hiccup and Astrid better. "What's wrong?" He asked in concern.

Stormfly squawked and flew over to them, she landed beside Astrid and nuzzled her, and Astrid patted her dragon's head absent mindedly. "Guys, we have a problem." Astrid told them in a voice just barely above a whisper, "A huge problem".

"What did you find?" Ruffnut voiced the question in the teen's mind. They were worried, because whatever could make Astrid Hofferson to look so scared must be bad news.

"There's something in the Nest." Hiccup told them through gritted teeth, "That **thing** is the cause." He hissed furiously as he balled his hands into fists, "That monster forces the dragons to feed it or they will be eaten themselves." He then glanced at Toothless, "Am I right, Brother?" Toothless nodded at him in answer, "That's it." He decided as he looked at his friends with narrowed eyes, "If we want to end this war, we need to kill it".

"But, Hiccup!" Astrid gasped out in shock, "How can we kill something so big?!" She asked before shaking her head, "That monster is even bigger than our Great Hall, what can we do against it? It's suicide, Hiccup!".

Hiccup looked at his girlfriend furiously, "Are you saying we just have to stand still and doing nothing?" He demanded as his whole body shook in fury, "That monster is the reason why this war happens in the first place, many live had lost to it and we won't do anything about it?" He growled and didn't wait for her answer as he walked to his dragon, "Let's go, Brother." He said as he was about to climb onto his dragon, but the Night Fury moved away from him, "Toothless!" Hiccup called out angrily as he tried to climb onto his dragon again, "We need to kill it!".

Toothless shook his head and moved away from Hiccup again.

"So you're saying that we should let that monster alive too?" Hiccup grew even more furious by the second, and he wasn't thinking clearly because of it, "You've seen it yourself, what it's doing to the other dragons, and you're saying we should do nothing about it? Are you afraid to fight that monster, Toothless?" Toothless shook his head again, "Then what are you waiting for?! We can't let it to take any more lives! We have to kill it even if it's the last thing we do!".

_Not with you being in this kind of state, no._ Toothless thought with another shake of his head before moving so fast until Hiccup wasn't prepared for it.

In less than a second, Hiccup was pressed onto his dragon's belly by Toothless's front legs and then wrapped by Toothless's wings, keeping him in place. Hiccup tried to get out of his Brother's embrace, but his strength was nothing compared to a dragon. "Let me go, Toothless!" Hiccup cried out as his fury slowly turned into frustration as he couldn't get out of Toothless's hold, "Let me go! I told you already, we need to kill that monster!".

Toothless only answered by letting out a soft croon as he nuzzled Hiccup's head gently.

Hiccup breath caught in his throat as he let out a choked sob. "That Zippleback died protecting us, Brother." He said softly as he stopped his futile attempt to get out, "I can't just stay here and doing nothing, I have to kill that monster. It's the least I can do for that Zippleback." He grew limp in his Brother's hold as he sobbed, causing him to slid until he was kneeling on the ground. His mind was in chaos, he didn't know what to do anymore. All he could think about was that he had to kill that monster since it had taken so many lives already, and it would keep doing so if he did nothing. Grief filled him as he thought about how many lives that had been lost in the war, in the war that wasn't supposed to happen in the first place. He was frustrated that he couldn't do anything about it, and it made him feel utterly useless. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and decided to just let his frustration out.

**_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"_**

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Froim : I'm sorry for taking so long. Review Please ^ ^


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

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Keila sighed as she threw a stone to the lake, as what she had been doing that after the teens were gone and she was freed from her bind by Gobber. "What should we do now?" She asked that question for the umpteenth times that night.

Gobber, who sat beside her while staring at the lake in sulking manner as well, sighed heavily as he followed her action earlier and threw a small rock beside him into the lake. "I don't know, Keila." He answered with the same answer that he had been telling her for the past few hours, "If we tell the villagers about their forbidden friendship with the dragons, they will be banished for being a traitor. Even if we stay quiet and say nothing about it, the outcome is the same. You lose your Daughter. I lose my apprentice whom I care like my own Son. Stoick lose his only Son, and the tribe lose their Heir".

"Not helping, Gobber." Keila snapped at him in annoyance.

Gobber shrugged before standing up, "Let's go back." He said as he offered his good hand to her, "Rather than staying here and just moping around, we should at least try to come up with an excuse to convince Stoick to send a search party to find them".

"It's useless." Keila grumbled as she took the offered hand and stood up as well, "They have dragons with them, we would never find them, and even if we did, they would still be branded as traitor once the villagers see that that have dragons with them".

Gobber sighed and decided to not say anything as they walked to the exit of the Cove, and they were just about to leave through the narrow exit when they heard a thud behind them. They tensed and turned around, ready to face anything that might attack them, but they were surprised of what they saw. The teens returned to the Cove with their dragons, but something was off. The Night Fury that Hiccup was supposed to be riding on was being carried on by the Monstrous Nightmare, and Hiccup was nowhere in sight. Gobber and Keila looked at each other, they didn't know whether they should let themselves known or not. They wanted to approach the teens and convinced them to not go away again, but they were afraid that the teens would fly away again once they saw the two grown up Vikings.

"Is this really alright, Astrid?"

Fishlegs's voice caused them to look back at the teens, and only then that they noticed the depressed expression they wore. They looked at each other again and nodded in silent agreement, deciding to just stay there and observed the situation first before making their move, since they wanted to know what had happened in the short time the teens were away from Berk.

"We don't really have a choice, Fishlegs." Astrid answered with a sigh.

"But . . ." Fishlegs trailed off as he touched his index fingers together nervously.

"No buts." Astrid shook her head tiredly, "We can't do this alone anymore." She then looked at the Night Fury, who was still on the back of the Nightmare. "Toothless, please get down and prepare your bed. Snotlout, bring Hiccup to Toothless once the ground isn't too hot anymore. Hiccup needs his rest".

Gobber noticed that, at the mention of Hiccup's name, the teens looked even more depressed. Keila tapped at his shoulder and motioned that they should come out now, and he nodded in agreement before they silently walked over to the teens.

"Wait." Snotlout looked at Astrid in surprise, "He's sleeping here? That's means that we have to come up with an excuse of why Hiccup isn't at home".

Toothless scoffed at that.

"I don't think that Toothless agree with you." Astrid let out a snort, "From what Hiccup told me, Stoick wouldn't even notice that his Son is missing".

"That's not true." Gobber couldn't stay quiet anymore and spoke, as he couldn't stand hearing that his best friend wouldn't notice that his own Son had gone missing, since it wasn't true.

"Gobber! Mom!" Astrid gasped out in surprise, "I thought you have gone back to the village".

"No." Keila answered as she looked away to hide her blush, "We had been here the whole time, sulking over the fact that you were leaving".

The twins snickered hearing that, but was silenced by Astrid's glare.

"We decided to come back and try once again." Astrid told them in low spirit, "We have found out the reason why the dragons keep raiding us, and I know we can't fix it on our own. We still want to end this war, but we can't do this alone . . . not anymore".

"That aside, what's happened to Hiccup?" Gobber asked in worry as he saw Snotlout carrying what seemed to be a sleeping Hiccup to the Night Fury, much to his chagrin.

"He had just had a mental break down." Ruffnut told him when neither Astrid, Snotlout, nor Fishlegs answered his question.

"Yeah." Tuffnut said in confirmation, "He tired himself out, so he's sleeping now".

"Mental breakdown?" Gobber asked in worry as he tried to walk over to his apprentice, but the Night Fury growled at him in warning, making him stopped.

"What happened, Astrid?" Keila asked softly as she tried to comfort her upset Daughter, but the Nadder growled at her as well, so she was forced to stay in place.

"It's alright, Stormfly, let her come." Astrid told her Nadder as she rubbed her dragon's beak before looking at Toothless, "You too, Toothless, let Gobber check on Hiccup. You should know better than anyone here that Gobber wouldn't harm Hiccup".

"Why is that?" Gobber asked in confusion, even though he was grateful that the Night Fury let him to get closer now.

"He has been watching over Hiccup for the past 8 years." Astrid said as she leaned on her dragon's side, "Ever since Hiccup announced that he would never kill a dragon, Toothless always watch over Hiccup from the shadow. He kept Hiccup company, he protected Hiccup during a dragon raid, and he constantly making sure that Hiccup was alright. No one in Berk know Hiccup better than Toothless, since Toothless knows everything about Hiccup".

"Man, that stung." Gobber muttered to himself before kneeling down near the dragon, eyeing him cautiously as he checked to make sure that Hiccup was alright.

"Astrid." Keila called out softly as she placed a hand on her Daughter's shoulder, glancing warily at the Nadder every now and then, "What's happened? Please, tell me, Dear".

Astrid was quiet for a moment before she looked at her Mother with a fear filled eyes, shocking Keila greatly since she knew that her Daughter was known as fearless. "I just saw a monster, Mom, a real monster." She whispered softly, as if afraid that saying it out loud would bring the said monster straight to Berk. She held herself and shivered as she recalled the encounter, "We found out why the dragons keep raiding us. There's this monster at the Nest, it forces the dragons to feed it or they would be eaten themselves".

"Huh? The Nest?" Keila gasped softly in surprise before the rest of Astrid's words registered in her mind, "A monster forces the dragons to raid us? That doesn't make sense, Astrid".

"No, Mom, it's all makes sense." Astrid replied with a shake of her head, "Do you know how bees works? They follows their Queen's command, right?" She asked her Mother, earning a nod and a confused look from Keila, "That monster is the Queen, Mom. They are forced to raid us, because that Queen dragon is just too big until they couldn't do anything. I saw it swallowed a Gronckle whole, Mom!" She hissed as she remembered that event, shivering once again as she recalled how scary the whole encounter was.

"Queen dragon?" Fishlegs's voice reached them, they looked aside to see that the big boy was walking to them, "How big is this dragon, Astrid?".

"I didn't see the monster whole, just the head." Astrid told him with a frown, "But the head alone is already as big as our Great Hall, I don't dare to imagine the rest of it's body".

"Could it be . . . Red Death?" Fishlegs asked fearfully.

"Red Death?" Keila and Astrid asked in unison.

"Red Death . . ." Gobber began as he walked over to them, it seemed that their conversation had caught everyone's attention, "The official name is Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, but more known as Red Death. There's a story about that dragon being exist in the past, and I thought it was just that – a story, I never thought that it could be possibly exist for real".

"How is Hiccup, Gobber?" Astrid asked in concern.

"He's exhausted, both mentally and physically I think, he should be alright once he got a nice rest." Gobber answered as he looked back to where his apprentice was, who was now being fully covered by the Night Fury's wing until he couldn't be seen.

"So, this Red Death is the cause for the war?" Keila asked hesitantly, as she still reluctant to accept that they were wrong about dragons all this time.

"Yes, it is." Astrid answered her.

"I didn't see this monster by my own eyes, but I believe in it's existence." Snotlout told them when he caught sight of Keila's skeptic expression, "Hiccup was really furious when he was back from the Nest. From what I could hear when Hiccup had his breakdown, a Zippleback died protecting him. He couldn't stand that a dragon died because of him, and yet he could do nothing about it, that's why he was having a mental breakdown. If Hiccup was really upset because of it, then I don't think Astrid is making up about this Queen dragon".

"Besides, Astrid's never one to make up a story, anyway." Ruffnut added with her arms crossed.

"Neither is Hiccup." Tuffnut added as well.

There were an uneasy silence after that, but it was broken when Gobber cleared his throat after he couldn't stand it anymore. "I think we should head back to the village now." He suggested, "If what you said is true, then it would be best if we keep this to ourselves first. We will keep this a secret for now, so you kids better go home and get rid of those letters you wrote for your family".

"Shouldn't we tell this to Stoick at least?" Keila asked in confusion, "I mean, as a Chief, he should know".

"I don't think so." Gobber shook his head, "The second Stoick hear the word Nest, he would want to go there right away, without thinking of a way to kill this Red Death first".

"Yeah, that would be bad." Keila mumbled as she imagined Stoick's reaction to the word 'Nest'.

"Very bad, indeed."

Hiccup's voice gained all of their attention. They snapped their head to where Hiccup was sleeping under Toothless's wings, only to see that the boy had awoken and was now sitting while leaning on his dragon's side. He was still upset, which was shown by the way he was rubbing his head while having a light scowl on his face, but Astrid and the rest of the teens could see that he was a lot calmer than before. Which was a good thing, because they didn't know how to handle the Hiccup that they saw when the Heir of Berk was so enraged and frustrated like earlier. If Hiccup was still acting like that, they were afraid that they couldn't do anything and could only relied on Toothless to calm Hiccup down, again.

"Hic-" Astrid began to call his name, but she was cut off when all the dragons in the Cove, except for Toothless, let out an excited croon and rushed over to the boy immediately. "What the-?" She blinked in surprise.

"Hey." Hiccup greeted the dragons while rubbing their heads, "I'm sorry, I made all of you worried, didn't I?" He asked with a small smile on his face, he then chuckled when Sharpshot licked his face and soon followed by the other dragons, including Toothless. "Yeah, yeah, I'm happy that you're with me." His eyes then brightened as his smile widened, "Yeah, I have you guys with me." He said gratefully, "I don't have to do this alone, we will kill that monster together".

The dragons purred happily in agreement. The teens smiled as they saw the sight, while Gobber and Keila could only stare in awe. "That did it." Gobber said with a sigh, "If I still don't believe that dragons aren't all bad after seeing this, then I'm an idiot".

"Agreed." Keila said with a nod.

"Oh, you're here too." Hiccup said with a blink of his eyes, as he didn't fully registering his surrounding when he had just woken up. He then looked around to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, "Astrid?" He called out to her in confusion, "Why are we back here?".

"We don't have a choice, Hiccup. We have to give our tribe another try, you know as well as I do that we can't kill that monster alone." Astrid said a she walked over to him, she sat beside him and took his hands in hers, "If we want to kill that monster, our only choice to work together with the Vikings. We have to show them that dragons aren't dangerous, that the real enemy is that Queen dragon, only then that we have a chance against it".

Hiccup looked at Astrid for a few seconds before looking at Toothless for his opinion, which answered with a nod by Toothless. He sighed, "Alright, let's give it another shot." He said in agreement before lying down again, "You lot go back to the village and sleep, I'm going to sleep here tonight." He said before Toothless covered him with his wing, hiding him from their view, "Oh, and don't forget to sneak the dragons back into the pens".

The others looked at each other and shrugged, they could do nothing but did as was told. So they went back to the village, sneaked the dragons back into the arena, and then went to sleep as if nothing had happened at all.

XXXXX

_It's alright, it's alright. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this._ Astrid thought as she tried to calm her nerves.

It was the day she had to fight Hookfang in the whole village, in which she would use it as an opportunity to show the villagers that they didn't have to kill the dragons, but she was so nervous. She wasn't worried about Hookfang, no, she knew that Hookfang would be able to recognize her and remembered the plan. It was the Viking's reaction that she was worried about. If any of them spooked Hookfang while she was trying to touch him, she knew that Hookfang wouldn't recognize her anymore. The uproar that the Vikings made at the moment was bad enough to confuse Hookfang, but if someone was stupid enough to spook Hookfang, then there's nothing she could do to get Hookfang remembered that she was his friend.

"Take a deep breath, Astrid." Hiccup's voice rang from behind her. She turned around to see him and the rest of the teens walking over to her, all of them were giving her a supportive smile, silently praying for her success. "You need to keep your calm, so take a deep breath and remember everything that you know about dragons".

Astrid nodded and followed his instruction, trying her best to calm herself. "Are you going to be here, Hiccup?" She asked him hopefully, since she knew that if it was Hiccup, he would know what to do in case Hookfang got spooked. He was the one who know about dragons the best, after all.

"No, I have to stand beside my Dad." Hiccup answered apologetically, "But I promise that I will help you if anything goes wrong. Don't worry, alright?".

Astrid smiled in understanding, "Alright." She answered with a nod.

Hiccup nodded back before jogging to where Stoick was, just in time for the Chief to begin his speech.

"Good Day, everyone!" Stoick's booming voice could be heard clearly throughout the arena, it could even be heard from their location, "In this fine day one of the teens will take their final test. Astrid Hofferson, our prodigy in Dragon Training, will fight against the Monstrous Nightmare in front of us all. Today, Astrid will become one of us!".

His speech answered by a loud roar by the people.

"It's time, Astrid." Gobber told her as Stoick finished his speech, "You can do it".

"I sure hope so." Astrid answered nervously.

Gobber opened the gate and Astrid entered the arena, she took her axe from the rack, as she had put it in there just before the people came, then she walked to the center of the arena without bothering to take a shield. She inhaled deeply again before looking at where she knew Stoick was, although she wasn't looking for the Chief. Her eyes connected with Hiccup and Hiccup nodded encouragingly at her, she smiled at him in answer before looking forward. "I'm ready." She announced out loud.

The log keeping the door was raised, and everyone was quiet as they waited for the big dragon to come out. A second later, the door blasted open, and Hookfang came out of the pen with fire coating his body. Acting according to the plan, he climbed the walls and chain enclosure like a bat while hissing at the provoking crowd, to make the audience believed that he was still a wild dragon and wasn't Snotlout's dragon. He blasted at them once, making a show of how angry he was, before he dropped to the ground.

Astrid looked at Hookfang determinedly, tapping the ground to gain his attention, and then waited until Hookfang approached her slowly. Then, she dropped her axe slowly and gently, so that she wouldn't spook the Monstrous Nightmare in front of her, before stepping away from her beloved axe. Her action confused her audience, save for her friends, Gobber, and her Mother who knew of her plan from the start.

"What's she doing?" Stoick asked in confusion as he looked at what was happening in the arena.

The arena was filled with murmurs and whispers of the Vikings, and Astrid could see that Hookfang had begun to get affected by it. "It's okay." She said as she held out her hand to touch Hookfang's muzzle, "It's okay, I won't hurt you." She assured him as she slowly moved her right palm closer to Hookfang's muzzle, "I'm not one of them".

"Stop the fight." Stoick said as he was getting angry by what Astrid was saying, to a dragon no less.

"No, I need you all to see this." Astrid answered firmly as she cautiously moving her hand even closer, aware of how agitated Hookfang became as he reacted to the tension in the air, "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them".

That did it, Stoick became so angry that he hit the iron enclosure with his hammer. "I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" He roared angrily.

The clatter of Stoick's hammer hit against the iron enclosure made Hookfang grew tense, and when Stoick roared with a voice full of anger, the Monstrous Nightmare was totally spooked. Hookfang snapped at Astrid's outstretched hand, thankfully she could pull her hand back in time before she ran away from the spooked dragon, just barely managed to avoid being blasted to crisp.

"Astrid!" Keila gasped in horror, "Stoick, you idiot!" She yelled at the Chief as she ran to get to the entrance to the arena, but the crowd was blocking her way, even though they didn't mean to, "Get out of my way, you dumbass!".

"Astrid!" Snotlout threw open the gate with some help from Fishlegs and ran in, he grabbed a shield and stood in front of Astrid. He gave the shield to Astrid with one hand as he outstretched his other hand towards the enraged Nightmare, "Calm down, Hookfang. Calm down." He said quietly in the midst of the uproar from the panicking Vikings.

Stoick finally registered that he Astrid didn't have a weapon with her to attack the dragon, so he stood up and was about to follow Keila when another clatter resounded throughout the arena, the sound was so sharp and shrill until it echoed and halted the panicked Vikings into silence. They looked at the source and found that it was Hiccup, who had just hit one of his twin rods against the iron enclosure, using such a force that the iron bent backwards.

"Quiet now." Hiccup told them calmly but firmly before jumping off the enclosure and into the arena.

His action calmed most of the Vikings, those who had stayed behind when Stoick and the rest went to search for the Nest knew that Hiccup could handle the Nightmare just fine, and so they relaxed knowing that Hiccup would save Astrid. The rest of the Vikings wondered what Hiccup was going to do, entering the arena like that, but they hoped that Hiccup knew what he was doing.

Stoick opened his mouth, he wanted to tell Hiccup to get away from there since it was dangerous, but he found his mouth covered by a meaty hand. He looked sideways and found Gobber gesturing for him to be quiet, so he closed his mouth again. Gobber removed his hand from Stoick's mouth and focused his attention to the arena, so Stoick followed his best friend's lead and focused onto the arena as well.

Hiccup pulled out a small tube from the pocket of his fur coat as he walked. He saw that Snotlout was still keeping Hookfang's attention to himself, so he used that opportunity to cover the round ends of his twin rods carefully, using the content of the tube he had with him. He made sure that the content only covered the round ends of his rods before throwing the tube away, he then connected his two rods together into a long one. "Snotlout, I will take over from here, get Astrid out of the arena." He said to his Cousin, gaining the black haired boy's – along with Astrid's and Hookfang's – attention.

Snotlout nodded a him, trusting Hiccup to know what he was doing, before pulling Astrid out of the arena with him. Astrid didn't protest against the action because she believed in Hiccup, so she got out of the arena without making a fuss.

Meanwhile, Hiccup had a staring contest with Hookfang while waiting until his Cousin and Girlfriend to get out of the arena, only after his friends were safe at the outside of the arena that he took a step towards Hookfang. Hookfang immediately attacked Hiccup while still covering himself in fire, but Hiccup jumped back and swung his rod in a circle above his head, purposefully running both of the round ends of his rod through Hookfang's fire coat, lighting them up in the process.

The crowd was shocked that the end of Hiccup's rod caught fire like that. They didn't know how that could happen, but they guessed that it was because of the strange colorless liquid that Hiccup covered them with earlier.

Hookfang's eyes locked at the fire from the both end of Hiccup's rod, and he didn't pay attention to Hiccup anymore, as he was captivated by the fire. Hiccup didn't make a sound as he moved his rod in such a way that he appeared to be dancing in slow motion with it, but his objective was to captivate Hookfang's attention and kept it on the firery ends of his rod. Hiccup kept moving his rod slowly, showing Hookfang that he could control fire as well, and only halting his action when he saw that Hookfang's eyes had became round like they normally were and the fire coat had died down, a sign that Hookfang had calmed down. Hiccup smiled as he held the rod in his left hand before holding his right one out to Hookfang, repeating what Astrid was doing earlier.

The crowd held their breath as they watched, captivated by Hiccup's performance. Stoick couldn't even move as his eyes were locked at his Son's figure, looking so small compared to the huge form of the Monstrous Nightmare. He was afraid that the dragon would suddenly snapped at Hiccup like it did to Astrid earlier, but he was slightly reassured when he saw Hiccup's calm and confident expression, knowing that his Son could protect himself if needed. The time felt like it had stopped as the Vikings waited to see what was going to happen, and they were awe struck when the Monstrous Nightmare gently touched it's muzzle onto Hiccup's palm. Although they saw it with their own eyes, they still had a hard time believing that it really happened, because they had never seen anything like this before.

Gobber and Keila were amazed that Hiccup could calm Hookfang so easily. They knew that Hiccup had a way with the dragons, but this was the first time they witnessed Hiccup's skill with their own eyes. The teens were amazed too. They had seen Hiccup interacted with the dragons from the arena, and they knew that Hiccup was friends with them, but they had never seen Hiccup calming any of the dragons down when they were in rampage mode.

Hiccup's smile widened as he rubbed Hookfang's muzzle, earning a purr from the big dragon. He then looked up at his Father with a serious expression, "We don't have to kill the dragons, Dad." He said firmly.

Stoick snapped out of his awe struck state and glared at Hiccup, "They are beasts, Hiccup, all they do is killing us." He said angrily, "There's no other way around it".

"There's another way around it." Hiccup said back with a glare of his own, "You have seen it yourself." He pointed out as he turned his back on Hookfang to face his Father fully, "This Monstrous Nightmare, that you call as a beast who only know how to kill, does nothing of the sort".

"It tried to kill Astrid." Stoick retorted stubbornly.

"Only because you spooked him." Hiccup huffed in annoyance.

"I spooked it?" Stoick asked incredulously, wondering at the back of his mind why his Son called the dragon 'him'.

"Yes, you hit the iron bar using your hammer, it spooked the Nightmare." Hiccup said firmly, "Before you did it, the Nightmare didn't attack Astrid at all".

"Nonsense." Stoick scoffed, "Since you're there already, hurry up and kill that Nightmare".

"I told you that I won't kill dragons, didn't I? Unless it's the only thing I can do to survive." Hiccup sighed as he rubbed his forehead, "All this years, I can survive without having to kill a single dragon, so why must I kill them now?".

"Because it's the Viking way." Stoick stated as if it was the obvious answer.

Hiccup groaned out loud. "You won't listen to me, will you?" He asked in annoyance before glaring at his Father, "If you won't listen when I'm speaking nicely to you, then I guess I have to make you listen by force".

"And how will you do it?" Stoick challenged as he glared back at his stubborn Son, it seemed like the only trait Hiccup got from his was his stubbornness.

Hiccup huffed as he threw his rod to Astrid, who caught it with a confused expression. "Please hold it for me for a bit." He told her before pulling one of his Wing Blades out, earning gasps of shock from the audience, he pointed it at Stoick with a serious expression on his face. "Stoick the Vast, I challenge you into a duel!".

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

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Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD!**

_Thought / Dream / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

"Hiccup! Have you lost your mind?!" Stoick asked incredulously as the people began murmuring again.

"No, I haven't." Hiccup answered calmly, "I challenge you into a duel, for the right to be a Chief for a month".

"What?" Stoick was taken aback by that, so were the other Vikings.

"You heard me." Hiccup replied casually, "If I win, I will take the position of the Chief of Berk for a month. Only a month, you hear? So don't worry, you will become the Chief once again after the said month had passed".

"You think you can win against me?" Stoick demanded with his eyes narrowed in slight anger, but he was too confused about what Hiccup was planning to do.

"I won't know until I try." Hiccup answered him.

Stoick grumbled under his breath as he turned around and began walking to the arena. He didn't want to fight his own Son, but he was challenged, and a Viking never ran away from a challenge. He made his way to the arena, only to be welcomed by a growl by the Monstrous Nightmare, and only then that he remembered that his Son was standing alone beside a dragon all this time. "We need to get that dragon back into the cage." Stoick said to his Son, and was shocked when the Nightmare suddenly walked back to the open cage on it's own. "How come?" He asked in disbelief.

"Dragons aren't mindless creatures." Hiccup said simply, his Dad wouldn't believe him even if he explained more about it anyway.

"That's nonsense, Hiccup." Stoick dismissed it easily.

"Whatever you say." Hiccup shrugged.

While Hiccup was having a staring contest with Stoick, everyone was getting restless, and they were wondering what was going to happen. After all, it was a rare occurrence for the Heir of a tribe challenged their own Chief into a duel.

"So, you will become the Chief if you win against me, that's your target for this duel." Stoick started as he got into a battle stance – pulling out his trusty two-headed axe as he did so, while his eyes never leaving Hiccup's. "Then if I win, I want you to forget all this nonsense about dragons and start acting like a true Heir, and that means killing dragons".

"I told you, I won't kill any dragon unless it's the only thing I can do to survive. So I won't, you need to think of something else if you win." Hiccup answered as he also got into a battle stance, after pulling out his second sword. "Actually, having a match against you is my last resort to get you to listen to me. If I lost, then I will leave." He saw his Dad's eyes widened at his words and smirked, "I will try with another tribe, maybe the Berserkers or the Bog-Burglars, but I will never stop until I end this stupid war against the dragons".

"This war isn't stupid!" Stoick growled as his anger was rising, "Those blasted beasts are killing us! We have to protect our people!".

"Protect our people, you said." Hiccup scoffed, "And yet you pit teenagers against the dragons".

"It's called training, Hiccup!" Stoick snapped at him, wondering what has gotten into his Son.

In front of the gate of the arena, the teens were watching in confusion as well. "What's Hiccup doing?" Snotlout asked in confusion, voicing the question in all of their mind.

"I don't know." Fishlegs answered thoughtfully, "But it looks like Hiccup is baiting the Chief".

"Oh!" Astrid gasped in realization, "I knew I recognize it somewhere. It's Camicazi's fighting style!" She told the rest of the teens.

Indeed, Hiccup was baiting Stoick to get angry, and he learned how to fight like that from Camicazi.

"_No, no, no!" Camicazi – a 7 years old girl with blond hair and Sapphire blue eyes – scolded a 7 years old Hiccup as she blocked Hiccup's wooden sword with her own, she then quickly kicked Hiccup's leg so the boy fell on his butt._

"_Ow!" Hiccup complained as he rubbed his aching butt, "What did I do wrong?" He asked her in confusion, "You said attack and I attacked, so what did I do wrong?"._

"_What you did wrong is when you use all of your strength in your attack, while you're using your right hand." Dagur – a 9 years old boy with dark red hair and dark green eyes – answered him, "You can't do that, Hiccup. Launch your first attack – which is with your right hand – using half of your strength and twice of your speed. Then, continued right away with your second attack – which is with your left hand, using your full strength and triple of your speed. Don't stop there though, you have to launch your next attack without giving your opponent a chance to fight back." He explained more as he showed how it was done using two wooden swords, "After all, you are wielding dual swords, but originally left-handed"._

"_Why though?" Hiccup asked in confusion, "Isn't it better if I attack with full strength and full speed?"._

"_That's only true for someone with my Mother's figure." Camicazi told him, "For people like us with small and lean figure, we have to rely on our speed more than strength or brute force"._

"_I'm sure you understand, Hiccup." Dagur continued for her, "If you clash brute force against brute force, the force of people with big body and muscle will win against the force of people with lean and flexible body like us. Our advantage isn't in our strength, but in our speed. We can't match them in strength or brute force, but they can't match with our speed and agility"._

"_So, what I lack in strength, I cover it with speed and agility?" Hiccup asked as he stood up and brushed his pant free of dirt._

"_Exactly like that." Dagur confirmed with a nod._

"_There's also another thing you can use in battle." Camicazi added with a devious smirk on her face, Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her, "Anger and distraction." She answered before attacking Hiccup, and Hiccup was forced to either block her attack or avoid it, "People can't think straight when they are angry, so make them mad. You can also distract them by talking to them, it will throw off their focus." And true to her words, Hiccup got distracted by her talking and his sword was thrown out of his grip, and he got hit by her sword._

"Gobber." Hiccup called out to the blacksmith, "The usual please".

"Alright." Gobber answered as he walked into the arena, knowing that his assistance in this was needed. "Normally, this kind of duel is to the death, but we won't have that. So, you will win if you managed to get rid of your opponent's weapon – or weapons – and brought your own weapon near your opponent's neck, that or when your opponent yield." He then raised his hand, "Duel . . ." He swung his hand downwards, "Begin!".

Normally, Hiccup would wait for his opponent to make the first move, but not this time. He couldn't wait for his Dad to make the first move, because then he would be at a disadvantage. His Dad wasn't only known for his skill and brutality when fighting dragons, but also when fighting another Viking. So, the second Gobber gave the sign, he lunged at his Dad.

Stoick narrowed his eyes and moved to first block Hiccup's attack, and then launched his own attack. That was the plan, but it changed the second it came to his mind, because his Son suddenly disappeared from his view. "What?!" He gasped, only to get kicked from behind.

The audience gasped in shock, as they couldn't believe their eyes. The moment they saw that Stoick was about to counter attack, Hiccup had become a blur and Stoick got kicked at the back. They were shocked that Hiccup could move that fast.

The teens – after a while of training with Hiccup – knew that Hiccup was the fastest among them all, because he used his small size for his advantage, but not even them knows that Hiccup could move so fast.

Stoick's reflex was good though, so he rolled on the ground and was soon get back to his feet. He turned around just in time to block Hiccup's incoming attack. He was surprised that a thin sword like the one Hiccup used could withstand his heavy axe, but that was the least of his problem at the moment, because Hiccup was now attacking him with the sword in his left hand. He jumped back to avoid the attack and was about to counter it, when he lost sight of his Son again, and once again, he got kicked from behind.

_That twice now_. Stoick grumbled in his mind. He couldn't believe that his Son managed to kick him like that, twice even, but at least he could read his Son's attack now. He would make sure to immediately turn around when he lost sight of Hiccup, because that was where his Son was going to be.

"What is this?" Hiccup's voice made him – and the whole audience – turned his attention to Hiccup, who was standing casually behind him, with his twin swords held in his grips on his sides. "Chief Stoick the Vast, who is famous for his outstanding fighting skill, got his butt kicked twice?" Hiccup asked him with an amused smirk, "What had happened I wonder?".

"Don't get cocky." Stoick huffed in anger as he turned to face Hiccup, and got into his battle stance, "You're just lucky because I have never fought against you before". How dare his own Son mock him? In front of the whole village no less.

Hiccup's answer was only smirking at him, before lunging at him again.

"That proves it." Astrid whispered to her friends, who were gaping at Hiccup's 'sudden change of attitude', "Hiccup is using Camicazi's fighting style, which is by making his opponent angry through his words, and thus making them prone to make mistake".

"Now that you mention it, you're right." Keila's voice made them jumped, as they didn't realize that she had come to their place to join them, along with Gobber.

"Well, Hiccup did say that Dagur and Camicazi are the ones who taught him how to fight." Gobber commented without looking away from the fight, "It shouldn't be surprising that Hiccup would use any of their tactics".

Stoick – instead of blocking Hiccup's first attack, only to jumped back again to avoid Hiccup's second attack again – decided to just avoid the attack altogether, and swung his axe towards Hiccup, hoping to force Hiccup to block his attack – and thus preventing Hiccup to make his own attack. He managed to surprise Hiccup with his move, but it seemed that he underestimated his own Son. Because instead of blocking the attack with his swords like he had hoped, Hiccup jumped forward and rolled on the ground. Then without a pause, he stood back up and swung the sword in his right hand at Stoick. Stoick was the one being forced to block Hiccup's attack then.

"You sure are unpredictable." Stoick huffed as he pushed against Hiccup's sword, making Hiccup added his other sword to stop Stoick from going forward.

"Thank you for the compliment." Hiccup answered with a smirk, "Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same to you, Dad. You're pretty predictable." Then he disappeared from Stoick's view again.

Stoick immediately turned around, to prevent himself from getting kicked in the back again. But what he didn't know was, Hiccup didn't stopped behind him like he did the two times before, but he kept going until he got onto his previous position again. And since Stoick was turning around when Hiccup started running, Hiccup was behind Stoick once again.

Hiccup decided not to humiliate his Dad anymore, so he didn't kick his Dad's butt again, but instead he moved to disarm his Dad. He used his right sword to cut the head of his Dad's axe off of its handle – effectively making his Dad flinched in shock, and when his Dad turned around to face him, he already got his left sword in front of his Dad's neck. "My win, Dad." He stated proudly with a smirk, "Be careful with your move there. Wouldn't want to injure your own neck, would you?".

Hey, it was within his right to brag. After all, not everyone could win in a fight against Stoick the Vast.

Stoick's eyes narrowed and his right eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but a loss was a loss. He was utterly defeated by his own Son, since if it was a fight to the death, then he would be decapitated by now. "Alright." He sighed as all the will to fight left him, since he refused to be a sore loser. "I admit my defeat." He announced to the audience.

Needless to say, the audience was gaping like a fish out of air, in shock since they couldn't believe that Hiccup won against Stoick.

Hiccup's victorious smirk grew into a big grin and he pulled away his sword from his Dad, only to jump up in celebration. "YES!" He cried out, pumping up his fist – which was still holding his sword, in triumph.

The teens snapped out of their shocked state and cheered as well.

"Wow!"

"That was one hell of a fight!"

"I know!"

"I can't believe Hiccup actually won against the Chief!"

"I know, right!"

Once they finished with their exclamations, they ran into the arena and surrounded Hiccup. They then cried out their own different ways to congratulate Hiccup for his victory, which Hiccup accepted with a big grin on his face.

While the teens were congratulating Hiccup, Gobber came over to Stoick and patted him on the back silently.

"I can't believe I actually lost to my own Son." Stoick said to Gobber. Now that he wasn't annoyed over his loss, he started to go into shock. He really couldn't believe that he had lost in a fight, against his Son no less.

"Don't go into shock yet, Stoick." Gobber said to his best friend, "There's more to come".

"What?" Stoick looked at Gobber with wide eyes.

Gobber's only answer was to motioned to Hiccup with his head, and they both looked at where Hiccup and the teens were. Gothi, without their knowing, was already standing in front of Hiccup with a proud smile.

Hiccup looked at the proud smile on Gothi's face in surprise, then his eyes widened in realization. "You knew." He breathed out in awe.

Gothi's proud smile widened at that, and she nodded in confirmation.

"Wait!" Keila, who was walking towards them with Stoick and Gobber, called out. "She knew about what?" She asked in confusion.

"Gothi wrote 'I know you can do it' to Hiccup just now." Astrid told her Mother, "And then she wrote 'It's about time you make your move'".

"'Make his move'?" Stoick asked in surprise, "Then you have been planning to challenge me." He said to Hiccup.

Hiccup nodded, "For a while now." He admitted, "I know that if I just said that we don't have to kill the dragons, that we can end this war another way, you wouldn't listen to me. So I planned to challenge you, and then during the one month time I take over the position of Chief, I want to end this war in my own way, and open your eyes to the truth about the dragons".

"You're still going on about that?" Stoick snorted, "Dragons are mindless beast, Hiccup. There's not another way to end this war?".

"Or is there?" Hiccup asked with a raised eyebrow, "I heard from Gobber, you know? About Mom's view of dragons, that this whole fighting will only make it worse".

Stoick glared at Gobber, who raised his hands in surrender – well, hand and hook. Stoick then sighed and looked at Hiccup in exasperation, "And look at where it got your Mother, Hiccup. She's taken by the dragons because of her strange view, she's dead now because of them." He said with a pained look in his eyes.

"Are you sure she's dead though?" Hiccup challenged him, "Who knows? Maybe that Stormcutter just wanted to get her away from Berk, away from this war, because that dragon had seen the gentleness in Mom".

"Dragons are mindless beasts, Hiccup!" Stoick snapped at him, "They will kill you the second you come across them!".

"If that's the case, then I would be dead already." Hiccup told his Dad firmly, earning an alarmed look from Stoick. Hiccup didn't respond to it though, and he turned his attention to the audience instead, who were watching them in shocked silence. "For years now – after my declaration 8 years ago – you have been asking me, 'Why won't I kill the dragons?'." He began as he looked at the villagers, "My answer was always the same; 'It's not me'. Now, I think it's time I tell you the story behind my declaration, the reason why I refuse to kill the dragons unless it's the only thing I can do to survive".

"Before that, Hiccup." Gobber said to him as he motioned to Gothi, who motioned for Hiccup to kneel down in front of her, "I think she wants to make to the Temporary Chief now, since you've won the duel".

"Oh, right." Hiccup said as he walked over to Gothi, then knelt down in front of her.

Gothi smiled at him and pulled a charcoal – from who knows where – to colored her finger thumb, then she used the said thumb to draw the Chief symbol on Hiccup's forehead. Her smile widened once she finished, and she bowed to him for a bit.

Hiccup grinned back at her, glad that she agreed to his plan to end the war through his own 'hiccup-y' way. He stood up and looked at his – now – people, and smiled at them.

"Long life-!"

"There's no need for that, Gobber." Hiccup cut off his Mentor in blacksmithing, causing the blacksmith to close his mouth, "It's only for a month, so there's no need to that".

Gobber shrugged, "Alright." He said simply.

Hiccup looked at the people again, "What I'm about to tell you now might be unbelievable, but it's the truth." He told them seriously, "It's also mind blowing and earth shattering, you could say. So let's go to the Great Hall first, in case any of you got weak kneed after you heard it." Although he began seriously, he ended up smirking at them in the end, causing some of them to chuckle quietly – mostly from those who stayed behind during the Nest Hunt.

Hiccup led them to the Great Hall, in which he took the stage – along with Astrid, and the rest of the teens, Gobber, and Keila – while the others took a seat around the stage. "Is everyone comfortable?" Hiccup asked them with a small smirk.

"Yes, Hiccup." Stoick answered him, "So, explain. Why do you refuse to kill the dragons?".

"It started 8 years ago, at the same day I made my declaration, really." Hiccup ran his hand through his hair, "Remember when I asked you if I can go to the forest on my own, Dad?".

"Yeah, and I explained to you why my answer is no." Stoick answered him, before he narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "Don't tell me you still went to the forest alone, even after all that?".

"Alright, I won't tell you." Hiccup answered with a sheepish smile, "It still happened though".

Stoick groaned in resignation, while Gobber, Keila, and the teens laughed at his outright disobedience. Gothi just shook her head fondly at him, and the rest of the tribe either shook their head or face palmed.

"So, I went to the forest to explore, but then …" Hiccup drawled when he saw a few worried faces, and grinned sheepishly again, "I got lost".

Stoick and Spitelout were the only ones who face palmed there, while the rest were chuckling at Hiccup's luck. "That's what you got for going to the forest alone without an adult with you." Stoick grumbled unhappily, "I hope you didn't get yourself injured, at least?" He asked tentatively.

"No, I didn't." Hiccup shook his head, causing Stoick to sigh in relief, "I did almost get killed though".

Stoick's eyes widened, along with everyone else who didn't hear the story before. "What?!" Stoick cried out in worry, "What happened?!".

"So here is the story …" Hiccup began as he crossed his arms, "I got lost, and hungry. So when I saw an apple tree, I picked up some, and sat down to eat. Unfortunately, some wolves found me around then, so I have to run for my dear life".

"You really have the worst luck." Snotlout commented to his story, but behind his indifference mask, he was worried for his cousin.

"Thank you." Hiccup answered sarcastically, "Anyway, the wolves cornered me to a cliff, and since I'm clumsy – which you all know very well, I slipped and fell off the cliff".

"WHAT?!" Everyone cried out in shock, including Astrid – since Hiccup didn't tell her how exactly Toothless saved his life back then.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Hiccup made a 'calm down' motion to them, "I'm still alive, remember?" That calmed down most people, but some still looked worried at him, which surprised him for a bit. "I didn't die – obviously, because someone saved me. This someone though, is who changed my opinion about the dragons, for the one who saved me was a dragon. A Night Fury to be exact".

"A Night Fury …?" The audience – not including Astrid – breathed out in awe.

"Yes, a Night Fury." Hiccup confirmed with a firm nod of his head, "The one dragon in the Dragon Manual with the warning to stay away – because the dragon is the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself – was the one who saved me from death. He scared the wolves away, and then carried me to the edge of the forest near our village, so that I could go home." He looked at each of them in the eyes, "The dragon that always strike fear into your heart every time he was about to shoot, every time you heard the ear-splitting screech of his speedy flight, was – and still is – my life saver. This is what made me realize that the dragons aren't the bloodthirsty creatures like you told me, like you all believe them to be. There are more than meets the eye about them, and that was why I made such a declaration".

Everyone was silent as they took it in, and Hiccup was silent as he once again remembered the event from 8 years ago, and every moment he shared with his not-so-secret scaly guardian after that day.

"How would we know that you're telling the truth, Hiccup?" Stoick asked him seriously, since it was his very belief about dragons that was on the line there.

"Look behind you, Dad – and all of you as well. Look at the entrance of the Great Hall." Hiccup told them in answer.

Slowly, they looked at the entrance of the Great Hall, and they gasped in surprise – or shock for some – at what they saw. There, sitting at the door to the Great Hall, was a dragon unlike what they (everyone but those in the know) had ever seen. A black scaled dragon with a pair of forest green eyes – which reminded them of Hiccup's eyes – which they didn't recognize, but knew could be the one and only.

**The mysterious Night Fury.**

"Is that the Night Fury?" Stoick asked Hiccup without taking his eyes away from the dragon, who was glaring at them.

"Yes, he is." Hiccup answered with a warm smile, very happy to see his dragon Brother again.

"Since when he got there, Hiccup?" Astrid asked in surprise, "I thought he was still in the co- forest." She finished as she looked at Hiccup for answer.

"Well, my guess is that he heard Dad screaming for you to 'stop the fight', and decided to come to the arena in case things got ugly." Hiccup answered her with a smirk, "I don't know when he arrived, but he was already at the arena when I challenged Dad into a match for the Chieftain".

"Since then?!" Stoick – who snapped his head to look at Hiccup when Astrid began speaking – asked in shock. He never realized that there was a dragon near them, even though the dragon was so easy to be spotted due to the color of its scales.

"Yes." Hiccup confirmed with a nod, "Also, he had been at the door to the Great Hall not long after you all got settled".

"So you're saying that, we have been in the presence of a dragon the whole time we heard you speak?" Spitelout asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Hiccup repeated his answer.

He didn't need to say more, because the implication of his words was as clear as the day. They have been in the presence of a dragon for a long time, but they never got attacked. It proved that dragons didn't go for the kill like what they believed, and definitely proved that they were wrong about the dragons.

"Come here, Toothless." Hiccup invited his Brother over.

This made everyone looked at Toothless again, and when the dragon began to walk forward, they made a way for him out of reflex. They were still shocked by Toothless's presence, and thus they could only watch in silence as the dragon made his way to the stage, and to Hiccup.

Hiccup welcomed Toothless to the stage by hugging him, and Toothless purred in answer. This action snapped the Vikings out of their shocked state, and a few began whispering to each other in awe. "Everyone." Hiccup called for their attention, and they looked at the boy once again. "Let me introduce you to the dragon who saved me that day 8 years ago, who shaped me into the Hiccup that you know today. Toothless." He said as he gestured to Toothless with a smile on his face.

"Toothless?" A random Viking asked, causing a few of them to chuckle at the silliness of the name, but they were quickly quieted when Toothless glared at them.

"I suggest that you don't make him angry." Astrid said to the audience, "Toothless still hasn't forgives you for your treatment to Hiccup for the past 8 years".

"What do you mean, lass?" Stoick asked in confusion.

"Well, as I found out the hard way, Toothless has been watching Hiccup – and by extension us – for the past 8 years." Astrid explained with a light blush on her face, remembering when Toothless imitated her reaction after receiving her axe in front of Hiccup.

"Which means, Stoick-" Gobber took over from there, "-that this Night Fury knew everything about Hiccup, and knew how everyone in this village treated the boy over the years. To put it simply, he's pissed off that Hiccup was treated badly in his own village, and it would be best not to piss him off even more".

Stoick – who realized that he didn't exactly the best father in the world – paled hearing that, along with everyone else, and they silently took a step back from the pissed off dragon.

"Gobber, that was way too blunt." Hiccup lightly scolded his Mentor as he rubbed Toothless's head to calm him down, "It's alright, Toothless. It's all in the past, so you don't have to glare at them like that".

Toothless moved his sight away from the Vikings to look at Hiccup, and his angry slit eyes dilated in happiness. He crooned innocently at Hiccup, trying to show that he wasn't angry, which was a lie and Hiccup knew it. Hiccup simply stared unimpressed at his Brother in answer, and this caused Toothless to pout and looked away.

Astrid chuckled at the display. Even though Toothless was the most feared dragon in the whole Barbaric Archipelago, the dragon could be childish at times.

Although, while Astrid and the rest of the teens were amused by Toothless's antics, the rest of the audience were in awe that a dragon could show a clear human emotion like that.

"Uh, Hiccup?" Fishlegs called out tentatively when the room was filled with silence one again, "Shouldn't you continue with the story?".

"There's more?" Stoick asked as he looked at his Son, and that got Hiccup everyone's undivided attention.

"Ah, yes. After all, I've only told you the reason of why I refuse to kill the dragons, and not why I took the drastic measure to get you all to listen to me yet." Hiccup answered him with a sheepish smile. He had forgotten for a moment there, that the reason why he called them to the Great Hall wasn't to just introduce Toothless to them.

"Right." Stoick replied as he – too – remembered that his own Son had fought him and won, and took the Chief position from him for a whole month. Surely it wasn't just to introduce the Night Fury to them.

"So, after Toothless saved me, I got curious." Hiccup began his story once again.

"Which is a dangerous thing." Gobber cut in, earning a look from Hiccup, "Don't look at me like that. It's true".

"Whatever." Hiccup grumbled at him, "Anyway, since I wanted to know more about dragons, and the book of dragons practically told me nothing about what I wanted to know, I sneaked out into the Arena at night".

"You what?!" Stoick gasped out in shock, along with everyone else.

"You heard me clearly, Dad. I sneaked out into the Arena." Hiccup repeated his words, "And long story short, I saw the proof that we don't have to kill the dragons to end this war. Then a few weeks ago, during the raid before the Nest Hunt, something happened that changed my routine of watching Toothless in action throughout the duration of the raid".

"Which is?" Gobber asked curiously, and he suddenly was at the receiving end of Hiccup's 'I'm-very-angry-at-you-and-you-should-be-grateful-to-still-be-alive' glare, "What? What did I do?".

"One word, Mangler." Hiccup answered him with a scowl.

"A- are you still angry about that?" Gobber asked nervously, "It's not my fault that it got destroyed because some tied up Gronckle dropped down on it".

"It's not the state of the Mangler itself that I'm mad about, Gobber, it's what you were using it for." Hiccup growled angrily, causing everyone else – save for Toothless – to look at the two of them in confusion.

"Well, I didn't know about the other side of the dragons yet, Hiccup." Gobber tried to defend himself, "You can't blame me for shooting down that Nadder".

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at him, "How many times the Mangler launched the bola that night, Gobber? How many exactly?" He asked his Mentor.

"Uhh …" Gobber trailed off as he tried to remember, "One bola accidentally got launched when I touched it the first time, one when I tried to use it … and then another one to shoot the Nadder." He looked at Hiccup questioningly, "It shot the bolas three times. What about it?".

"'What about it?'" Hiccup repeated as his glare deepened into 'I'm-this-close-to-kill-you' glare, "That one time you shot the bola to try the Mangler actually hit a dragon, Gobber, and that dragon happened to be **My Night Fury**." He hissed angrily at his Mentor, who gulped and raised his hands – hand and hook – in surrender, "What did I told you about touching what's mine?".

"Uh, don't." Gobber answered nervously.

"That's right." Hiccup nodded and crossed his arms again, "I told you to not touching what is mine, yet you still did it, and now Toothless has to pay the price for **that**".

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Gobber asked as he threw his arms up, "I can't change back the time, Hiccup".

"The least you could do is apologizes." Hiccup told him sternly.

"I already did." Gobber reminded him.

"To Toothless, Gobber." Hiccup growled at him, "You haven't apologized to Toothless for crippling him".

"Crip-?" Gobber started to ask before his eyes widened, and his eyes snapped to the fake tail fin on Toothless, "That- that was my fault?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Hiccup was practically fuming at that point, which crept out many people greatly – since they never saw him like that (save for Astrid and the other teens, since they saw him acted like that after his visit to the Nest. And even then, they were still a bit unnerved by it). He could forgive Gobber if it was anything else, but he couldn't forgive his Mentor if it was Toothless that was hurt. At least, not until the Blacksmith apologized to Toothless.

Gobber grimaced and looked at the Night Fury, who was staring unimpressed at him. "Okay, I'm sorry, for … that." He said as he gestured to the tail fin.

Toothless snorted at him before nodding, then began nuzzling Hiccup to calm him down. It worked, and Hiccup calmed down in an instant.

"Talk about mood swing." Snotlout muttered when he saw that, and he immediately raising his hands in surrender when Hiccup glared at him for that little comment.

"Back to the story." Hiccup said as he returned his attention to his – still rather unnerved – audience, "In that raid, Gobber shot Toothless down on accident and he crash landed in Raven's Point, and so I went to find him. It's too long to tell you in detail, so I will just make it short. I freed him and noticed that there's something wrong with his flight, so I returned the next day and found out that Toothless had lost his left tail fin during the crash. Gobber said that 'a downed dragon is a dead dragon', and I couldn't let that happened to Toothless. To save him, I made this fake tail fin. Astrid caught me in the act, and after a bit of story exchange, she agreed to keep it a secret for me".

"The reason why I was so good in Dragon Training was not because I got so skilled, but because I took advantage of the knowledge that I got during my time helping Hiccup." Astrid admitted to them with a sheepish grin.

"Yes. And so, with Astrid help, I restored Toothless's flight, but with a condition." Hiccup looked at Toothless apologetically, "Toothless can only fly with me now. He can't fly on his own".

Toothless crooned at him softly and nuzzled his chest, to show that all was forgiven, and it got a small smile out of Hiccup.

"Things got downhill when I was chosen to kill the Nightmare." Astrid took over the story from Hiccup, "After finding the truth about the dragons, I don't want to kill them anymore. By this time, all of us the teens don't want to kill the dragons anymore, actually. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins confronted Hiccup after the recent raid, and they decided to help us out in trying to end this war through Hiccup's way. When my Mother and Gobber found us in Toothless's hiding place, they had a hard time to believe us that we don't have to kill dragons, so I and the others were planning to leave Berk and try with the other tribes that is less stubborn".

"But you didn't go through it, which I'm glad and grateful for." Keila interrupted her with a smile, "Though you made me heartbroken for a bit there".

"Sorry, Mom." Astrid apologized sincerely.

"We didn't go through with it because we came across the Nest." Hiccup continued for Astrid.

"The Nest?" Stoick and the others were surprised once more, and they got excited that Hiccup and the teens found the Nest when they couldn't. 'Maybe the teens would show them the way to the Nest?' That was what going on in their mind.

"And that's where we found it, the monster." Astrid cut through their excitement seriously, a haunted look entered her eyes.

"What monster?" Mrs. Thorston asked tentatively, since it was the first time she saw Astrid got scared of something.

"The Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus." Hiccup answered her grimly, "The Queen dragon that is forcing the other dragons to raid us. The dragons needs to bring back food for that monster, or they would be eaten themselves".

That one news brought silence to the Great Hall once again. This time, not out of shock or awestruck, but out of dread and fear.

"The- the Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus?" Squeaked Mulch in fear. He was really glad that Hiccup told them to sit before he began his story, or he would drop to his knees in fear already. "The infamous Fallen Dragon Queen that Old Wrinkly once told us about?".

"Yes, that one." Hiccup and Astrid said at the same time. They looked at each other, before Hiccup motioned for Astrid to continue, so she did. "I, Hiccup, and Toothless fled the Nest after that. I thought that we could definitely not capable of killing the monster on our own, so we returned to Berk in hope of changing your view about the dragons."

"If we want to end this war, we need to kill the monster." Hiccup told them seriously, "That's why I ask you this … Please, put aside your hatred for the dragon and work together with us – with them, because the dragons are as much as a victim in this war as us".

The Vikings were silent as they looked at each other, taking in the grave news that Hiccup presented them with. After a while though, Stoick got a determined look in his face. It was his desire to end the war with the dragons, after all, even though he had been going for it through the Viking way for decades now. Now that he knew the truth, he couldn't keep doing it, it would be a mistake on his side then. Besides, it was true that Valka had tried to get them to get to know the dragons before she was taken away. He couldn't save her then, so the least he could do was made her dream of peace between them and the dragons came true, and the only way to do it was to go along with Hiccup's plan to kill this monster.

"Alright." He spoke to gain their attention, but his eyes was locked with Hiccup's, "Let's kill the monster and end this needless war".

Slowly but surely, the Vikings built up their courage and gave their affirmation. Hiccup's eyes widened, and he exchanged pleasantly surprised look with his friends, before beaming at his Dad. "Thanks, Dad." He breathed out in awe, for he couldn't believe that this was really happening.

XXXXX

To be continued . . .

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I'm really sorry that – even with your help through the vote, I'm still taking so long to update. I hope this 6k+ chapter could make up for that. Anyway, I hope my dear readers are still enjoying my story. Please tell me if I managed to keep my quality up, or if I somehow lost it. I hope I didn't lose it though.

Thank you, and Review please.

Froim ^ ^


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD!**

_Thought / Dream / Event from the past_

_[Voice from the past]_

"Dialogue"

Letter

**Emphasis**

"Let's see …" Hiccup began as he spread their map on top of one of the tables in the Great Hall, "I'm pretty sure that our catapults could do nothing against that monster, the most they could do would be breaking through the mountain and baiting the monster out of its nest. So …" He pulled out his charcoal pencil and circled a few locations, "Since our best chance is our dragons against the monster, we will go to these islands to get a few wild dragons. Who knows? Maybe some of you would be lucky enough to bond with one of them".

After the villagers gave their consent to work with the dragons, Hiccup told them that they needed to plan their action first. That's why – while they were still in the Great Hall, they were discussing what action to take, with Hiccup – as their current Chief – led them. He stood at the head of the table, where Stoick normally stood when the red haired man was holding a meeting. While Stoick, Keila, Gobber, the teens, and pretty much all of the villagers who could find a spot, were looking from all around the table.

Stoick frowned as he took in the locations that Hiccup had circled. "Those islands are pretty far from here, near the Bog Burglars tribe." He commented to Hiccup, "Why not searching in the nearby islands first?".

"I don't know if there would be dragons in the nearby islands, since all of the nearby dragons would probably stay in the Nest, while being controlled by the monster." Hiccup explained to him, "But I also don't know how far the monster's range of control is, so I think we will just try the farthest islands from the Nest right away, instead of going to the nearby islands only to move again to the farther islands".

"Hm, make sense." Gobber commented after he thought about it, "It doesn't change the fact that it would take at least a week or two to get there though".

"By ships … yes." Hiccup shot him his mischievous smirk, the smirk that could sent grown up and battle hardened Vikings ran for hills.

_I get a bad feeling about this._ Stoick thought, and unknown to him, every other grown up Viking thought along the same line as him.

"But not with dragons."

XXXXX

"I'm gonna fall! I'm gonna fall!" Gobber screamed out in fear as he swayed a bit on his sitting spot, which was on the back of the twin's Zippleback, and he was gripping on the rope in his hand tightly – since they didn't have time to make saddles before they go.

Hiccup and the teens were looking at him unimpressed, while the adults who were riding behind them – meaning Stoick, who was with Hiccup; Keila, who was with Astrid; Spitelout, who was with Snotlout; Phlegma the Fierce, who was with Ruffnut; and Emma, who was the twin's Mother and was with Tuffnut – were looking at him in worry.

"That's why I told you, Gobber, you should have ride behind Mrs. Hofferson. Stormfly is strong enough to carry you too." Hiccup deadpanned to him, "Now, just jump from there, Stormfly will catch you".

"Jump?! Are you crazy, Hiccup?!" Gobber cried out again, in disbelief this time.

"We're running out of time, Gobber. Who knows when that monster will order the dragons to raid us again?" Hiccup explained to him, "Either you jump and Stormfly catch you, or Toothless will pluck you up from there and drop you onto Stormfly's back".

"You really are crazy." Gobber grumbled to him, "Since when do you-?!" Whatever the rest of his words were, they would never know, because he cut himself off with his screaming when Snotlout – the ever impatient boy he was – made Hookfang picked Gobber up from Barch's (Barf and Belch's names combined) back.

"Here you go!" Snotlout chuckled as Hookfang dropped Gobber behind Keila, who immediately seized Gobber's hand, to prevent the Blacksmith from being blown away by the wind.

"You're crazy!" Gobber yelled after he managed to calm his heartbeat, but he was still a bit pale from the experience, "All of you trainees are crazy!".

"Thank you for the compliment, Gobber." Hiccup – who was well aware of that fact – just beamed at his Mentor in answer before turning his attention to the rest of the teens, "Alright, now that Gobber is secured, let's speed up!".

"Wha- speed up?!" Gobber yelled out again, seemed like he was still a bit traumatized from the stunt that Snotlout had done.

"Yes, speed up!" Hiccup answered him cheerfully, "So hold on tight, and enjoy the flight!".

Thus, with a short shout from all the adults – who held onto the person in front of them with all their might, the teens and their dragons speeded up their flight – while letting out their own version of cheers. Aside from the initial scare of the sudden burst of speed, the adults began to enjoy the flight very much. Although, they weren't showing their excitement about flying vocally, since they felt like they were too old to scream out in excitement like the youngsters.

It took them a few hours flight before they saw the islands – which feel much longer due to the twins asking them if they were there yet, for every few minutes – and began slowing down from their speedy flight, their dragons were a bit tired anyway. Then, after they were only a short distance away from the islands, Hiccup motioned for them to hover in place.

"You guys, stay here." Hiccup commanded them, "I, Dad, and Toothless will scout the area first, just in case there's Vikings in there".

"Be careful." Astrid answered him.

Hiccup nodded to her before clicking the pedal to change the tail fin position, and the next second, they were diving steadily towards one of the island. They checked the islands for random Vikings who might happened to be there – after all, who knows what the Bog Burglars might be doing that time – but fortunately, their worry was for nothing, since there wasn't any Viking there and only dragons (which was the reason they came there). Stoick looked back and motioned for the others to come down, and in the next minute, they had landed on one of the islands.

"Okay, from what we have seen so far, there's 2 Nadders, 2 Nightmares, and 5 Gronckles in this island alone, so I don't think we need to go to the next island." Hiccup said to himself before addressing the adult Vikings, "So, what kind of dragon do you have in mind to be your partner?".

"Definitely a Nightmare for me." Spitelout answered immediately, while eyeing Snotlout's Nightmare with approval.

"Same with me." Keila said in agreement, while eyeing Hookfang in approval as well.

The said Nightmare stood up straight in pride for managing to make two Vikings interested in his dragon family, and Snotlout to puff up his chest proudly too, since he knew his dragon was one of the best.

"Eh, maybe a Gronckle for me." Gobber mused as he looked at Meatlug appraisingly, "Not only would be strong enough to carry me, but they can help me out in the forge too".

"I guess I will try with a Gronckle too." Phlegma said thoughtfully, "I don't really care for speed anyway".

"I'm going for a Nadder." Emma said confidently, "They are beautiful, but also a swift and fierce warrior".

Hiccup nodded at them before looking at his Dad. "What about you, Dad?" He asked curiously.

"Truthfully, I don't know if I even want a dragon partner." Stoick confessed as he crossed his arms, "I mean, I originally came with you just to see for myself that it's possible to befriend a wild dragon, so I don't know if I would want a dragon of my own in the end".

"Well, let's just wait and see then." Hiccup said easily before leading the group into the forest part of the island, "Oh, before I forget, I should tell you that the dragons are the one who chooses you, not the other way around".

"Why is that?" Keila asked curiously.

"Dragons have smelling sense that is far stronger than us, so they could tell many things about us with just a few sniff of our scent." Hiccup explained to her, but also addressing the rest of the group, "Because of this, they could tell if they could get along with you or not. That's why, even if you like the dragon, the dragon might not want to be paired up with you, because they don't think they could get along with you".

"Oooh." The group let out a similar noise of understanding.

"Oh, I'm going to write it in our new Book of Dragons later." Fishlegs said excitedly.

"Shh." Hiccup put a finger to his lips when he caught a sight of a Nightmare not too far from them, "Okay, you guys stay here." He told them sternly, "Don't make any sudden move, or loud noise, it will startle the dragon".

"Sure, Hiccup." Stoick said as quietly as he could, but he was a bit tense.

After he received an affirmative from the rest of them, he motioned for Toothless to stay too – earning a pout from the Night Fury. Slowly, as to not make the Nightmare fled, Hiccup began walking towards the dragon. The Nightmare – who was napping previously – woke up and stood up, immediately alert of danger, before catching the sight of Hiccup, and let out a warning growl.

Hiccup stopped walking and moved his vest aside, the sight of his Wing Blades made the Nightmare growl then, but it didn't stop Hiccup. He slowly pulled his swords from his belt and drop them to the ground, then he walked away from the swords but not towards the dragon either. He stopped once he was far away enough from his swords, and waited for the Nightmare to make her – since he was sure it was a dragoness – move.

The Nightmare was watching him silently – cautiously, before her caution turned into curiosity. Slowly, as slow as Hiccup earlier, she approached him. Hiccup looked away from her after she was close enough, then he slowly raised his left up to the dragon's snout – but not touching – before closing his eyes. He didn't have to wait long until he felt warm scales on his palm, and he opened his eyes to smile at the Nightmare, who purred at him.

"Wow." Fishlegs breathed out in awe, followed by the others.

It was truly a sight to behold, really. Hiccup – the small, scrawny looking Hiccup – was standing without fear in front of a Monstrous Nightmare that was many times bigger than him, and then befriending the said dragon with nothing but a bare hand. It was enough to take their breath away, and made them awestruck.

Fishlegs's voice caused both Hiccup and the Nightmare to look at the audience, and the sight of a group of armed Vikings made the Nightmare tense. "Shh." Hiccup scratched the Nightmare at the head to calm her down, "It's okay, they won't hurt you." The Nightmare calmed down a bit, but she was still looking cautiously at them, so Hiccup decided to go ahead with the next step. He looked at the adults, only to see them being as cautious to the Nightmare as she was to them. "Calm down, you guys." He told them, "She won't harm you as long as you won't harm her".

"Easy for you to say." He heard Stoick muttered, but he ignored it.

Hiccup then looked between Keila and Spitelout, since they were the ones who wanted to have a Nightmare. Between the two of them though, he thought that the dragoness would be better partnered up with Keila than Spitelout, so he motioned the woman over. "Leave your weapons over there, Mrs. Hofferson." He reminded her, "You don't want to give the impression that you want to attack her, right?".

Keila shrugged and pulled out her axe, earning a low growl from the Nightmare, but the dragon soon calmed down after she dropped her axe to the ground. "What should I do, exactly?" She asked Hiccup as she began to walk, "Do I need to repeat your action earlier?".

"Just come here, slowly, and relax yourself." Hiccup told her patiently.

Keila did as she was told and approached them slowly, making sure she didn't tense, so the dragon wouldn't tense as well. Once she was close enough, Hiccup lightly took her hand before slowly guiding it towards the Nightmare's snout, but didn't touch them together. All they needed to do now was wait for the dragoness to make her decision – Keila couldn't help but held her breath as she waited though.

The Nightmare sniffed at the hand in front of her for a bit. Then, once she felt satisfied with what she had found from Keila's scent, she pushed her snout forward to meet with Keila's open palm.

Keila's breath – that she was still holding – stopped entirely. Her eyes widened as a warm feeling washed through her, and she let out her breath through the form of a soundless gasp. She locked eyes with the Nightmare and exchanged stares, and she felt as though she was looking at a long time friend, instead of a newly acquired dragon partner. "Whoa." She could only whispered that.

Hiccup smiled at her, knowing just what exactly she was experiencing at the moment, and he was happy for her. "What are you going to name her?" He asked her after a few moments of silence.

Keila blinked, and only then that she remembered that she wasn't alone in there. "Name?" She blinked as she came out of her daze, "Oh, right." She nodded her head before looking at the dragon – **her** dragon – again, and thought of a good name for her. "How about …" She began thoughtfully, before deciding on what to name her dragon, "Wyvern".

The newly named Wyvern snorted hearing the name, but then letting out a contented purr.

"Seems like she like her new name." Hiccup said with a smile.

"Good." Keila said with a smile as well, before looking at Hiccup expectantly, "So, what now?".

"Now …" Hiccup began to answer as he returned his attention to the others, "We find some other dragons to bond with them".

It didn't take them too long to find the other dragons in the island, and Hiccup then repeated the process of pairing the Vikings and dragons again and again. In the end though, Spitelout didn't get a Nightmare like he wanted, but instead he got a Deadly Nadder that he named Kingstail. Emma got a Nadder as well, and Phlegma got a Gronckle, just like what they hoped for. The only ones left without a bonded dragon were Stoick and Gobber – Gobber because he couldn't find the right one for him, and Stoick because he still didn't know if he wanted a dragon or not.

"How about we try the next island?" Hiccup offered the two of them, while helping the other adults with securing the rope onto their dragons.

"Nah, lad." Gobber shook his head, "Maybe it isn't time for me to find a dragon of my own yet".

"We should return home now, or the others would get worried." Stoick interrupted before Hiccup could argue with Gobber, "As you have said, we don't know when the monster would give the order to raid our village, so we best return home now".

Hiccup sighed, but he agreed since Stoick had a point. "You're right." He replied before looking at the dragons around them. Now that they had gained three other dragons, they had 8 dragons in total, and he guessed it was better than just the 5 of them. It was only slightly better, but he would take that than nothing at all. "Alright." He repeated with a firm nod of his head this time, "Climb on your dragon then, we're going back to Berk".

With that, they climbed on their own dragon. Stoick was behind Hiccup once again, but now Gobber chose to sit behind Astrid right away, since he didn't want a repeat of the last time. Once they were settled, they took off to Berk, with Hiccup giving pointers to the new Dragon Riders along the way.

The return flight to Berk took less time than when they departed, because most of the dragons only need to carry 1 passenger now instead of two – or three in Stormfly's case. In just an hour or two, they had arrived at Berk, and they were welcomed by their fellow villagers – who were staring at the dragons in surprise, by the way. Probably because some of them didn't really believe that Hiccup's plan to get more dragon would actually work, since most of Hiccup's plan in the past would often backfired at him. Hiccup was well aware of that though, so he wasn't upset at the lack of confidence.

All in all though, Hiccup decided that his first decision as being the Chief worked out just fine, and that was all what he needed.

XXXXX

"Knock, knock." Astrid's voice sound just as Hiccup finished carving the handle of his newest project, he turned around to find that the girl that he was waiting for had arrived. "Mom said that you want to meet me. What is it about? Do you need my help in something?" She asked Hiccup as she entered the forge.

"No, it's not like that." Hiccup answered as he offered his newest project to his girlfriend, "I just want to give you this".

Astrid's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the object that Hiccup was offering to her. It was an axe, with a beautiful carving on the handle. That wasn't what caught her undivided attention though, but rather the color of the blade of the axe itself. The blade was whitish and yet bluish in color, like the color of the sky that you saw through a very thin shroud of clouds. "This is …" Astrid began to say as she accepted the offered axe, and yet she couldn't find the right word to describe how she was feeling at the moment. One thing she knew for sure though, she was awestruck at the beauty of the axe.

"The Gronckle Iron axe that I promised you." Hiccup answered with a proud smile, "It's not just Gronckle Iron though, I also mix some of Stormfly's scales in them as well".

"So that's why the color is this unique." Astrid breathed out in awe, falling in love with her new axe already.

"Yes." Hiccup confirmed her words, "Now your axe wouldn't dull so easily, since Gronckle Iron is very strong. I also mixed some of Stormfly's scales to give it fire resistant property, so you don't have to worry about your axe head melting so easily after getting blasted by dragon's fire".

"Hiccup, this is …" Astrid tried again as she finally took her eyes away from the axe, "Amazing. Very amazing." She finished in awe.

Hiccup smiled at her, "I'm glad that you like it." He said in answer.

"Like it?" Astrid raised an eyebrow at him, "Hiccup, I freaking **love it**".

Hiccup just chuckled at her words, causing the girl to blush lightly. Then, on a sudden impulse, Astrid pulled Hiccup to her and kissed him fully at the lips. Hiccup was the one blushing this time, and his expression was that of a dazed one.

"You're amazing." Astrid said with a small grin, and her blush deepened a bit as well.

"Thank you." Hiccup managed to put his mind together to say that, but only that.

The lovely atmosphere was shattered though, when they heard a sigh from near them. As one, they looked at the source, only to see Gobber staring at them wishfully. "Ah, young love." He said with a teasing grin.

Hiccup and Astrid's blush deepened, "Gobber!" They cried out together in embarrassment.

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To be continued . . .

XXXXX

Hello, my dear readers. I'm really happy that many of you still want to read my story, even though I haven't been updating for the past year – until I updated the chapter 15, of course. So here is the 16th chapter. It's rather short compared to the previous chapter, I know, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Review please XD

Froim ^ ^


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